New Voices

Well, the chapter has now been written and posted. How nerve-wracking was that? It is one thing for an editor to read your work in the privacy of their office, but so completely intimidating putting it on a public site and knowing that I am being judged as well by my peers.

But so far so good. The comments have been incredibly positive and there has been some great feedback. So now I am patting myself on the back and am very pleased that I took the plunge and entered.

Do I want to win. You betchya!

Or not. Actually ome positive feedback from the Editors and hopefully a request to see a bit more would be a fantastic result.

That being said. I had best get on and write that 'bit more.'

So if you are also an entrant, congratulations and good luck. Anyone who actually enters and puts themselves up there is a winner in my eyes.

Have a fabulous week.

What do Jessica Watson and Kylie Kwong have in common?

The answer is me. Yay!

This week I was lucky enough to meet both of the above. For the uniniated, Jessica Watson is the youngest person to ever circumnavigate the globe and we were lucky enough to score a visit from her at our school. I was inspired and even more importantly, my wee heroines were totally inspired. I did not realise that Jessica overcame her dyslexia to learn how to read navigation charts etc so that she could follow her dream. My seven and eight year olds lined up to get her book and both have been sleeping with it ever since.

I however have been taking Kylie Kwong to bed, or at least her latest cookbook. I was lucky enough to attend a breakfast where she was speaking and was enamoured by her passion for her food and how it is produced. For anyone who has not seen the new book, it is a celebration of the people who supply her with produce and the anecdotes within its pages are as good as the recipes.

Meeting these wonderful women has inspired my passion so work has gone on in earnest this week on my latest book.

What has inspired you this week. And I will give extra points if anyone says my post.

Have a great week.

So its been a while...

As the heading so eloquently puts it, I have been absent for a while, so the chances are very good that I am writing this blog to myself. Where have I been? All over. Working. Working. Playing. Working. Playing. You get the picture.

Have I been writing?

Yes, but because of my job and the fact that I have a tendency to volunteer for a gazillion committees means that my time is limited.

But I am writing and I am slowly getting there.

Current WIP...The Cerutelli Reversal of Fortune.

Sophie Eddington, heiress to the Eddington fortunes has made a promise to her dying father, to protect the family name by any means possible. Now that promise is coming to bear.

Family fortunes have turned and she needs money and she needs it quickly if she is to save the family's reputation and her brother's hide. How far is she prepared to go? Is she prepared to make a deal with the devil himself, Domenic Cerutelli in order to fulfill the promise she made to her father.

By any means possible. Words that you can rest assured, Domenic will make her regret.

Have you ever made a promise you regretted? If so, what did you do?

Sun...Surf...and Serenity

I have just returned from Byron Bay, where I have done nothing but sit by a pool, sit in a pool, tinker with my WIP and read. I don't get nearly enough time to read in my day to day life, so for ten days I have caught up on all the books I have been putting to one side.

And my recommendations are;

Claiming the Courtesan by Anna Campbell. Wow! This is Anna's debut novel and has made me a fan of the historical. (wow again!). Fabulous conflict and a heroine you cried for and a hero to die for. For those of you having problems on inner conflict, this book is a fantastic example. She has crafted the conflict so it builds the entire story.

Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart. Ris Wilkinson suggested to me eons ago that I read Mary Stewart and I had sourced several of the books from second hand stores where they have sat on my shelf due to them being small print, me being short-sighted etc. Well, I finally got around to reading this one, and am now a huge fan. She has a beautiful way with words and I fell in love with the heroine from the get go. Although a mystery with a romantic element, it is the romance where she excels in her turn of phrase.

Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge by Lynn Raye Harris. This is the lady that won the Instant Seduction contest, and boy...did she deserve it. Fantastic debut novel and I cant wait to read more.

Anyway, enough of the book reviews and back to the WIP "The Antonelli Marriage of Revenge".

Much to be learnt from these fabulous writers.

RWA Conference and Lightbulb Moments

Sorry for my absence, but life has been busy, what with the upcoming release of "Under the Tree" and the RWA conference I have not had time to scratch myself. At one stage I was even considering not attending the conference (is that a gasp I hear from the crowd and a 'say it isnt so!). It was just that my writing buddies werent going, work is busy, the grass needs trimming...you get the picture.

But wow!...I am so pleased that I attended. I had so many lightbulb moments that by the end of the conference I was lit up like a fluorescent tube. I attended the Friday workshop by Anne Gracie and Mary-Jo Putney and if anyone walked away uninspired they should be looking for another profession. Conflict...conflict and more conflict. Character archetypes. A bit more conflict. Brainstorming. It was all there. Anne Gracie also had a fabulous conflict chart that I have now applied to my new manuscript. Then on Sunday morning I attended Paula Roe's workshop on Get Organised...Get writing. Wow! As I am now part of the day to day work force this workshop was invaluable. She covered not only on how to organise you writing hours, but also how to organise your document.

And books. How many books can one buy before being charged excess baggage. At least 25 I have discovered. Books on the "Joys of writing sex" all the way down to Janet Evonavich's craft book. And too many Presents to mentions (which I even got signed by my favourite authors...the groupie that I was).

Anyway, if anyone wants any information, let me know as I will point you to the appropriate websites. And now that I am back with renewed vigour and purpose, it is off to my manuscript.

From Romance to Cook Books

On September 24, "Under The Tree' will be launched, a recipe book that celebrates the community of Fahan school and it will be the result of nearly two years of incredibly hard work by myself and a small committee of friends. If someone had told me that the first book I ever published would be a recipe book, I would have laughed at them as what I know about cooking you could fit on a postage stamp. But then again, "Under the Tree" is much more than a recipe book.

My husband and I have educated our four daughters through Fahan, a small private school in Hobart, and two years ago, several events occurred that made me pause and consider why, at an expense that at times we have struggled to afford, we have done so.

This 'pause' led me to discover that what I cherish most about our school is the community that binds it together. As I talked to people, I also found that I was not alone. To many students, both past and present, it is that sense of belonging and community that they most cherish about Fahan School. From this pondering, I formed a small committee and together we have created "Under The Tree" a recipe book that celebrates the community of Fahan and all the recipes that have helped bind our families together.

Our hope is that this book serves two purposes. That it will give the reader a sense of all that is special within the Fahan community. And secondly, that whilst the reader will discover some innovative and contemporary recipes within its pages, they will also be reminded of those special ones that have made their own families special. My personal favourite is the chocolate pudding recipe as it reminds me of meal times as a child and that garish orange dish that the pudding was always served in (that still survives to this day) and of my five brothers and sisters fighting over who went first.

So, whilst not the writing project I hoped would launch my career, it is still one of which I am incredibly proud and as the first copies become available (we are expecting the advances in approximately two weeks) I will share with you images from 'Under the Tree."

A LIGHTBULB MOMENT

Well...not so much a lightbulb, but more the equivalent of someone switching on the lights at the MCG, then turning them up a wee bit. Years ago (well it seemed like that) I blogged (or did I comment on someone elses blog) re the dreaded synopsis and that the advice I was given from Jenny Hutton from HM&B was to write a synopsis that was totally based on the emotional journey of the characters i.e. you strip everything away so the story could take place in any time frame or in any setting. Hard to do...yes sirreeeee. But today I found the road map to doing this on Heidi Rice's blog (thank you Heidi). For those of you that havent already had a peak, she has posted the synopsis of her first book and then been good enough to give her tips and the tips of the editor who critiqued it.

Absolutely fantastic stuff. Not just for the advice, but also to see that such an accomplished writer had a journey as well and that the mistakes she made all sound very familiar (and that there is life after an Elvis impersonator).

And now, by jove, I think I get it. Although they do say that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. So, back to the manuscript, which is now three-quarters complete. Although, on the strength of Heidi's blog, I think today I will step back from the manuscript and write the synopsis. Then I will have a road map for the manuscript and will be able to see the journey forward as well as any pot holes in the road I have fallen into.

Onward and upward.