PLOTTING

Plotting has become my new best friend. I am currently writing my third book and this is the first time I have plotted the story before I began writing it. I tell you, it is soooooo much easier to write when you know exactly what is going to happen next. The frustration of what to write is taken out of the writing process, and now all I have to concentrate on is how to write it.

I have the entire story set out in chapters in an Excel programme. This allows me to see any loop holes I may have missed, and any weaknesses in either the characters or storyline. Here I can also double check the pace and strength of the plot from start to finish. I also found I can write the story a lot faster because I only have to concentrate on the writing and nothing else.

I have pictures of my characters (images from google) set out so I can imagine my hero/heroine more strongly. I have images of body language and different situations that help me picture the scenes in my head more. I have worked hard to get to know my characters backgrounds so I understand them better.

This is the image I base my hero on, a divorce attorney set to find a wife that will complete him.

Here is an image of my heroine, a private investigator undercover as my hero's personal assistant.

During the plotting process I found the original story I had in my head before I began changed as the plot developed, it turned out to be stronger, more exciting for me as a writer and hopefully for my future readers. There is a lot more spark between my main characters and the surrounding story is far more interesting.

Her trusting relationship with men was blown to smithereens when, at the young tender age of ten, she found her father cheating on her mother with one of his patients. Then when she finally allowed herself to trust again, she caught her rotten scoundrel of a fiance with his pants down. No wonder she has a closed-off reaction to all males.

CATS AND THEIR CRAZY ANTICS

Cats, they can be the most cuddliest, lovable, adorable things one minute, and crazy, lunatic, creatures on four legs the next. I have three cats, 1 female, 2 males. The female cat has an issue with any form of male be it human or critter, she hisses and snarls whenever they came within a metre of her personal space. she even has her own chair. Luckily I'm a female so she lets me cuddle her.
The older male cat is placid, he sleeps and cuddles up to you all day, but he is a big fur dropper, no sooner have I vacuumed theres cat fur everywhere. But I would much rather cat fur any day to the icky mess he leaves in the hallway or on the backdoor step. Mice, rats, rabbits, birds and the odd duckling or two, are just some of the wonderful things he likes to bring home from his hunting trips. I wouldn't mind so much if he left them in one piece, but he has a habit of dismembering their heads from their body's and then separating their insides into nice little bite size pieces that he kindly leaves for you to find.
The last of our three cats is a 16 week old male kitten, he is the nuttiest one of them all. He loves to run around the house at full speed and watch out if you're in the way because he won't go around you, he'll go over or up or through you but never around you. He's into everything, when I'm trying to change the ink in the printer he climbs inside it, when I'm loading the dishwasher he climbs in there, when I'm cooking dinner he jumps up on the bench and runs across the ceramic hob then back down before I can get to him. Oh, and watch out if you're wearing a long skirt he loves to hang from them. His favourite pastime is chasing flies, it cracks me up when he hangs from the window ledge with the fly sitting a centimeter away from him and he can't get it without letting go. And boy does he have the loudest purr I have ever heard.

This is Cindy. Yes her ears are turned up at the tips, they have been like that for three years now. I think it's from the sun.

This is the chair she has claimed as her own. Junior is still learning the hard way to leave her alone, she swipes at him when he comes up to her.

This is Junior. I'm amazed he sat still long enough for me to take these photos.

Aren't they cute.

This is Chevy the older male. Don't you just love his tail, it's so bushy.

Chevy likes to sit on the rock and drink out of the fish pond. Don't worry all fish are accounted for. They don't seem to mind him they swim right up to his tongue.

FIRST ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR THE YEAR

I have accomplished three things this week that I am pretty proud of: first one is, I sent my MS off to the Clendon Awards. I love receiving the feedback you get, it lets me know if I'm on the right track or not and gives me ideas of where I can improve things. The second is I have sent a query letter and synopsis off to Harlequin for the same MS. I'm crossing my fingers with that one that they like it as much as I do. And the third one is, this is my first post for the year. Hello again.

This week I am going to make up some fast-track word cards. Before I start on my next book I have decided to make up some cards with words I may need to express emotion, description, etc and their meanings, as I found it a pain in the butt when I'm in the middle of writing a great scene only to come to a screeching halt when I can't think of the right word to suit the situation.

Next I'm going to sit down and start seriously working on the plot line for the next book. At the moment it keeps changing as I'm trying to get to know what personality my heroine is going to have. I'm determined to make my next characters more stronger, more captivating. My hero is easy, he is known to be a womanizer. He makes it his personal mission to prove to my heroine that he can be a one woman man. My heroine has trust issues with men, especially when the two men she has trusted in her life have proven that they can't be trusted after all. At the young age of ten she caught her dad in bed with a woman that wasn't her mother. The one and only man she trusted with her heart, ended up cheating on her.

I have read several Nora Roberts books and love the way they make me feel like I'm watching a movie instead of reading a book. Her characters are so real. The way she describes them and their situations, I can imagine the scene as if I'm there with them. My goal as a writer is to write books that my readers can lose themselves in them, in the way Nora's books do with me.

All this I am going to start after a day shopping with my mother.

YIPPIE!!! EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO MYSELF

I'VE FINALLY FINISHED THE DAMN BOOK!

After months of struggling with plot lines and character growth, I have finally typed those two magical words THE END

All I have to do now, is write up a query letter and send it off to the editor at Harlequin Super Romance and cross my fingers that they will love it as much as I do and want to publish it.

I've already started plotting my next book which is going to be written for the Harlequin Sexy line. while I was writing the last book I discovered I had a tendency to put the two main characters in situations where there was a lot of sexual tension which could have easily lead them to having sex, but because the hero wasn't ready to take that step I had to keep them apart, which was sometimes very difficult. So I've decided to write for a line which allows more sex scenes where my characters have the freedom to explore one another on a more intimate level.

MS CRASH DIET

When I first started writing this book I was targeting the Harlequin SuperRomance line, then I changed to single title. And now, pages from what I believed was going to be the finish product of many long hours writing, I decided to change back to my original plan, H S. So what did I have to do? Put my MS on a crash diet. I've trimmed it down by 30 pages so far (it may not sound a lot, but when you find writing as hard as I do, it's a lot.) I must admit though, that by trimming it down I also trimmed out a lot of unnecessary plots that weren't moving the story along or developing the characters in anyway, so I think this crash diet was a good decision in the end.

As a writer I create characters in my head and tell their story through the books I write. But one thing I learnt quickly, is that I may be the one whose fingers are typing away at the keyboard, but the characters are the ones that are telling their story. They have their own personalities with their own thoughts and opinions. Like my secondary characters for instant. Three-quarters of the way through telling their story, in this storyline, they decide to tell me, we feature in this book to much, let us tell our own story in the next book. Guess what? After weeks of trying to work out what was bothering me about their participation in this book, they themselves are the ones to point it out. They were one hundred percent right. Even though I had planned to tell their story next, (second book in a series of five) I had concentrated on introducing them too heavily in this book. Now the main characters have the focus put back on them.

What do I find hard about writing?

As a person who classes themselves as a full-time writer, you would think that I would enjoy words, well I have to admit, they frustrate me. Well maybe not words themselves, but my lack of education when it comes to writing them down on paper. I can handle the spelling (thanks to spellcheck that's not to much of a problem, and the more I write the better I get), but when it comes to grammar I am atrocious at it, (and that's with a grammar tutor.) I've heard that the English language is one of the hardest languages to write, I have to say I agree, the meaning and pronunciation of words when there are so many with the same spelling but different meanings, is darn right confusing. I get frustrated when I have words in my head that are begging to be on paper, and yet I struggle to grant them their wish.

My struggle with words is the reason why it takes me forever to write a book, it's two paragraphs forward and one page back for me, but as much as I write and delete, write and delete, I believe it is making me a stronger person and writer. So its not all bad.

I AM NOT GIVING UP! They say practice makes perfect.

It took me years of soul searching to find out who I am as a person, (I always hated writing HOMEMAKER in the forms that ask, what is your occupation?) The day I realised writing is who I am, I was both surprised and pleased, mostly for the above reasons I thought I wouldn't be any good at this. But when I dug deep into my past, I remembered spending a lot of time writing short stories (back then Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys were the in thing,) and also that the only A I remember getting at school was for a book report I did on The Diary Of Anne Frank.

Since I started writing I have become more confident within myself, and that in itself is well worth the frustration and struggle I battle through everyday.

PS. Now I don't mind filling out the occupation section because I can answer: WRITER.

PSS. You would not believe how long it took me to write this post, over an hour.

Well that's enough of my ramblings, enjoy your day and happy writing.

ROSE MADNESS

Anyone who knows me, knows that other than writing my passion is roses, I have several gardens full of them. Today I had to mend one of my standard roses that had snapped (luckily not quite through) back together again, when it became too heavy on one side.

I can't believe how crazy the roses have taken off this year.



I planted these roses three years ago







These are three to four years old

STUNNING SUNSETS

I'm sure I'm not the only one enjoying the high we're experiencing at the moment as it sweeps its way across the country. Where I live (rural Waikato) we get to see some pretty amazing sunsets settle over the hills and pasture. The one I saw last night reminded me of the sunsets I've been lucky enough to see here in New Zealand and overseas.

Here are a few photos I thought I'd share with you

This one was taken outside my dining room window

These were taken at Monkey Mia, Western Australia

These two were taken at Bowen, Whitsundays Australia

These next few photos were taken from the back of the cruise ship as we sailed up the Inside Passage of Alaska.
I can't take credit for these gorgeous photos, because while I was watching a fantastic performance of dancers and singers, my husband was on the back deck with a beer in one hand and my camera in the other. Thanks to my thoughtful hubby, I got to enjoy the sunset and the show.

I got a head start on a summer tan today.

I was sitting in the passenger side of the car with the window wound down as my husband drove us to Bombay (south of Auckland) today when I got a suntan on my left arm. The only thing is, now I have one white arm and one slightly tanned arm. But I'm not complaining, it seems a long time since I've seen gorgeous clear blue skies and enjoyed the feel of the summer heat as it warmed my pale winter skin. I'm just hoping the sun is going to continue wrapping its caressing arms around us this weekend, because hubby and I are looking forward to our first fishing trip of the season on Sunday.

All this sunshine makes it very tempting to ignore my inner voice that's calling for me to write. The temptation to potter around in my garden is very strong, I've got dead heads on my roses to snip off and aphids to eradicate before they destroy their beautiful buds. As alluring as the sunshine and garden are at pulling me away from writing, even for an hour, I have to remember, I will never become an author and will always just be a writer, if I don't get the darn book finished.

Hope you all have a wonderfully hot, enjoyable weekend.