Oh my goodness! Since the conference my world has been madly careening towards giving me a mental breakdown. But I wont go into that too much here.
I wanted to write a little blog post to mention the conference - because I was there and it was my first one. Your first conference is always going to be special - you can never really have a 'first' one again - a bit like that other thing you can never have a 'first' of again!
I learnt a lot; I learnt some things about writing, which are all stashed away in a note book waiting to be looked at again - sometime. But also, and probably more importantly, I learnt a lot about myself. Sometimes it's hard to be the person you want to be, and sometimes there are some steep learning curbs - but in the end you come out stronger, more focused and more determined. So for me the conference was a bit of a self discovery, as well as a chance to meet some amazing people!
And some amazing people I did meet!
Deepest thanks to Sandy, who let me 'sleep in Sara Bennett's bed' and room in with her. It was wonderful to meet you Sandy - salt of the Earth.
Huge thank-yous to Kaz, Sandra, Shannon, Paula, and Jenny - you ladies made the conference for me. I can't say how lucky I was to accidentally end up on your table. It was such a pleasure to meet you all. Thank-you for adopting me, and to Jenny for reading my pages and giving invaluable feedback.
To Jennifer K - thank-you for talking to me and helping to turn my 'wishes' into 'goals'. They are all written down and pinned to my study walls.
The Three Harlequin Girls: Amanda, Gabby and Lilia - you were so lovely to chat to.
Anna Campbell - loveliness its self. Thanks for your wonderful hugs.
To Rachel and Sheridan my new writing sisters - and friends for life.
Of course, I met many more lovely people, all of whom I look forward to running into again next year.
TTFN,
P
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Back in the swing
March is gone? I obviously didn't get the memo!
And now it's the school holidays and I have two adorable, but lively children causing chaos in the house!
While March passed in a blur, April is turning out to be well organised and stable. I am in control, have done some plotting (although not much writing yet) and am getting on with studying. Life is busy as usual but there is a calm settled over me.
I've read three books this week, all by Anne Mallory. Her latest book 'One Night is Never Enough' was fantastic and I can't wait to read the next one in the series which comes out later this year.
And now it's the school holidays and I have two adorable, but lively children causing chaos in the house!
While March passed in a blur, April is turning out to be well organised and stable. I am in control, have done some plotting (although not much writing yet) and am getting on with studying. Life is busy as usual but there is a calm settled over me.
I've read three books this week, all by Anne Mallory. Her latest book 'One Night is Never Enough' was fantastic and I can't wait to read the next one in the series which comes out later this year.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Pancake bliss
I missed last weeks post due to a number of things:
1. exhaustion;
2. sick kids;
3. sick husbands;
4. organisation of a trivia night
It's been a hell of a week, and I've done no writing or schooling at all. However, trivia night came off without a hitch - in fact it was a hit! And after it all I woke up this morning to my lovely family making me breakfast, and although I didn't eat it in bed, it was...
1. exhaustion;
2. sick kids;
3. sick husbands;
4. organisation of a trivia night
It's been a hell of a week, and I've done no writing or schooling at all. However, trivia night came off without a hitch - in fact it was a hit! And after it all I woke up this morning to my lovely family making me breakfast, and although I didn't eat it in bed, it was...
bliss.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Did you know ...
That Anne Gracie is a person? Yeah - a human person with two arms, two legs and a head just like you?
It's funny because I've read nearly all her books and to me she is an Author. An author is a sort of demigod, who sits at their computer casting spells over their characters and vola, alakazam - a book is magically birthed out into the fiction world for me to down load onto my iPad and read with a cup of tea. Of course I know it isn't that simple and that a lot of blood sweat and tears go into every page. But they are demigods because they can do it - they can bring a book to life.
But she is a person - like me. She is a lovely person and was very happy to talk to a small group of women about the joys of writing. Full of enthusiasm for writing and the Regency era, she made the somewhat daunting task of getting published seem achievable to everyone in the room - for which I am entirely grateful! The horrible presence of doubt is obviously one of the major stumbling blocks in the isolated business of writing. And yet when you talk to someone in the flesh it doesn't seem so sinister. So Anne Gracie is a person - just like me; I can be an author too. I will fight, spill blood, kill people, torture people, make them cry and kiss and then eventually I'll make them fall in love, and I too will be a demigod.
For me it was a nice experience to meet face to face an author I admire, and also my first human contact with another RWA member. I did come across the first negative for buying digital books - you can't get them signed! But was lucky enough that she was selling copies of her latest book 'The accidental wedding', which is the only one of her books I don't have, at a bargain price (!) and she even signed it for me - yay!
Thanks Anne; see you at the conference in August!
It's funny because I've read nearly all her books and to me she is an Author. An author is a sort of demigod, who sits at their computer casting spells over their characters and vola, alakazam - a book is magically birthed out into the fiction world for me to down load onto my iPad and read with a cup of tea. Of course I know it isn't that simple and that a lot of blood sweat and tears go into every page. But they are demigods because they can do it - they can bring a book to life.
But she is a person - like me. She is a lovely person and was very happy to talk to a small group of women about the joys of writing. Full of enthusiasm for writing and the Regency era, she made the somewhat daunting task of getting published seem achievable to everyone in the room - for which I am entirely grateful! The horrible presence of doubt is obviously one of the major stumbling blocks in the isolated business of writing. And yet when you talk to someone in the flesh it doesn't seem so sinister. So Anne Gracie is a person - just like me; I can be an author too. I will fight, spill blood, kill people, torture people, make them cry and kiss and then eventually I'll make them fall in love, and I too will be a demigod.
For me it was a nice experience to meet face to face an author I admire, and also my first human contact with another RWA member. I did come across the first negative for buying digital books - you can't get them signed! But was lucky enough that she was selling copies of her latest book 'The accidental wedding', which is the only one of her books I don't have, at a bargain price (!) and she even signed it for me - yay!
Thanks Anne; see you at the conference in August!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
And so...
Ah you're still here little blog. Thought that I had forgotten you?
As the new year has come in, the school year is about to start (yay) both for me and for the kids, it's time to set some goals. This year I would like to complete my manuscript and want to devote myself a little more to this blog (a once a week post) and be more of a contributor to my discussion group, as I've a habit to lurk in the background. Not this year!
On the road to completing my MS I love being motivated and RWA is awesome for that. I have just been reading my Hearts Talk and there is a great article from Rachel Bailey talking about beginnings and endings and it has made me think long and hard about my story's ending - or lack there of. I think that working on this will help to give my story direction and the push I need to get going.
So on with it.
As the new year has come in, the school year is about to start (yay) both for me and for the kids, it's time to set some goals. This year I would like to complete my manuscript and want to devote myself a little more to this blog (a once a week post) and be more of a contributor to my discussion group, as I've a habit to lurk in the background. Not this year!
On the road to completing my MS I love being motivated and RWA is awesome for that. I have just been reading my Hearts Talk and there is a great article from Rachel Bailey talking about beginnings and endings and it has made me think long and hard about my story's ending - or lack there of. I think that working on this will help to give my story direction and the push I need to get going.
So on with it.
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