WINNER!

AND THE CONTEST WINNER IS...

CONTEST: True Grit

I did it. That's the THE END of my current WIP, which just happens to be a YA Western.

OT: Mama Must Haves

It seems as thought everyone is having a baby. For goodness sake, even the Duchess of Cambridge is due to pop any day now. So, to help out royalty and commoners alike, I have thrown together this little treasure trove of genius: Mama Must Haves (or Things To Get Pre-Baby's Arrival).

I hope Kate's taking notes. Let's just get right to the good stuff:

This Week's Web History (21 June 2013)

I firmly believe that being a writer and getting thoroughly (and shamelessly) lost on the internet go hand in hand. I am continually looking up information and needing inspiration... or just needing a bit of a distraction! And, let's face it, the internet is always winning when it comes to the information and inspiration department. And it is the king of distractions.

So, it's Friday once again and that means it's time to see what in heaven's name I've found on the interwebs this week.

Noun-specific Verbs

Just taking a quick break from WIP's Rough Draft 2.0 to share with you a quick tip about verbs. Sometimes when a scene feels uninspired in respect to word-selection, I will make a list of noun-specific verbs by focusing on a subject.

Saturday Morning Sillies

You know there is one distinct thought that come to mind when watching this video (below): I always KNEW being the wife and the princess were mutually exclusive. Right? No? Toddler logic is infallible.

Being a new mum, I really look forward to the nonsensical conversations that I will have with my daughter in my future. A child's mind is just so unhindered by rules. The walls surrounding creativity (and general logic) have not been built and the places that they end up are magical and honest and bizarre. And, since I've become so old and jaded, I just can't wait to journey there with her.

On First Drafts

A few weeks ago I finished the first draft for my current WIP. It was ugly. It was painful. But--you know what?--it was finished! And it felt GOOD.

I had racked up a healthy word count, characters were taking shape nicely and it FINALLY felt like I was getting a good grip on the story. But with the ugly, painful, finished first draft came the first round of self-edits.

I love to edit. And, folks, I don't take prisoners. Never have, never will. Not even with myself. ESPECIALLY not with myself. And 'no prisoners' in THIS instance meant ripping out half the words, rehashing plot issues and deleting several characters.

Making Things

Readers! Fellow writers! And all the other, more rational beings!

So, you may or may not have noticed a wee gap in my blog. Okay, fine... a MASSIVE gap. It's been, what? Over a year. But hey, I've been busy. And I promise it won't be that bad ever again.

The reason is two-fold, and yet... the reason is the same.

I've made things.

First of all, I stopped that whole office-working-nonsense. In the infamous words of Taylor Swift "Weeee-EEEEE are never ever ever ever getting back together." Okay, that may not be entirely true. I do miss some parts of working in an office and in publishing, but for the time being I am no longer doing that sort of work.