Bring on the weekend...

Am feeling like a kid counting down the sleeps till Christmas. I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited about this weekend's Romancing The West mini-conference and catching up with many of my writing buddies.

I'm heading to Perth - KID FREE - on Friday morning for some shopping and then I'll pick up my lovely writing friend Janette Radevski who's travelling from Sydney for the day! From there we're off to the hotel, where we'll meet up with Nikki Logan, Fiona Lowe and Fiona Palmer and head out to dinner at a near-by pub. I'm sure the food will be good but I just KNOW the writing talk will be fabulous!

Then Saturday promises to be a jam-packed awesome day of writing workshops!! I'm planning on going to sessions about 'Branding myself' (really looking forward to this one), Writing a fab first para and first chap and Tension - how to avoid that saggy middle!

Saturday night will be another dinner with even MORE writers.

And one of the best bits? TWO NIGHTS with no one waking me up to go to the toilet or because they need a drink - lol!

Promise to take pics (I'm usually hopeless at this) and update you on the day early next week!!

Love my Sony eReader!!!

I can't believe it's almost been TWO weeks since I last updated - shocking!!

I had a bit of a reading break between finishing the first draft and reading it over in two sittings (like to do this so I can see if it's working as a whole before being nitpicky and pulling it apart) but didn't read nearly as much as I'd hoped! I read a fabulous Blaze by Sarah Mayberry, some brilliant stuff by my CPs and Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts by Lucy Dillon.

I was really, really, really tempted to look at my mss but forced myself to stay away for at least a week. I NEEDED distance to look at it objectively! Then yesterday morning I downloaded my mss onto my lovely Sony eReader so I could read it like a real, proper book.

Sure I love reading other people's books on my eReader but this is what I love most about it. Reading my own finished product!! I'm lucky to have the Touch edition which means I can annotate as I read.

So thanks to my beautiful eReader, I've now read through my whole mss and am starting on the edit.

Plan is to finish the edits, let it sit another week, then read over one more time to polish before subbing.

I told the editor mid-May - so YAY - looks like I'll make the deadline!!

Is it only me who feels like this?

Have just finished the rough draft of my mss. I say 'finish' very loosely cos I still have to go back and revise the sex scenes as requested by the editor but there's a whole book to work with now.

I'm stoked, don't get me wrong, but reading back over the last few chaps I wonder if it's lacking the buzz, the pizazz, the flair of the first half of the book?

I'm definitely a beginning girl. LOVE LOVE LOVE getting to know two new characters and writing the beginning of their love story... but towards the end, I start to doubt EVERY single line I write. Is there enough emotion? Is there too much emotion?

WHAT THE HELL is EMOTION?

What I want to know is is this a Rach-curse or does everyone get to the end of the book and think they've just written 50k of utter rubbish!?

Onto less heavy pastures. The delightful, supremely wise and ever talented Jackie Ashenden nominated me for the 5-5-5 Blogger Award!

This is: 5 questions, 5 answers, 5 blogs to tag.
So here goes:

Question 1: Where were you five years ago?

1. I was in Kojonup, having only just moved there and having just come back from gorgeous holiday in Queenstown, NZ.
2. I had one hubby, one child, one dog and one cat.
3. I knew I wanted to write but looking back (oh hindsight) knew absolutely nothing about writing.
4. I had just bought my first laptop - unfortunately due to the Rach-computer-curse, I've lost count of how many there's been since then.
5. I had just decided I wanted to write a non-fiction book about breastfeeding.

Question 2: What is (was) on your to do list today?

1. Finish rough draft of novel - check! (if I forget about the sex scenes that still need fixing)
2. Make a shepherd's pie for dinner, which my kids will turn their noses up at - check!
3. Get my legs, lip and brow waxed - fail (my friend the beautician forgot our appointment)
4. Contact the stupid College of Teaching about my registration renewal - fail (who wants to waste a kidfree morning on the phone to them?)
5. Change and wash the bedsheets which I try to do every Friday - fail (but hey it's only lunchtime)

Question 3: What five snacks do you enjoy?

1. Cake- anything but fruit cake! Became a fiend when I was pregnant with High Maintenance.
2. Diet Coke - like Jackie, drinks are snacks to me. I allow myself one can a day, unless its a naughty day - like today.
3. Chocolate -need I say more?
4. Cereal - don't much like it for breakfast but in the evening it's fabulous.
5. Popcorn - especially from the movies or freshly popped!

Question 4: What five places have you lived in?

1. London.
2. Newcastle, England.
3. Sydney.
4. Perth
5. Kojonup

Question 5: What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. Travel more - first stop Hollywood where I want to set my next book.
2. Buy my unromantic hero his own supermarket. If I were a billionaire he could probably retire, but that'd kill him.
3. Fly my best school friends to England to see Amy.
4. Send my boys to fabulous schools.
5. Y'know? I'm finding this question hard... don't know if being filthy rich would suit me?!?!

Oh hang on... thought of a proper five! I'd get a live-in cleaner, cook, gardener, personal fashion consultant and buyer, hair-dresser and beautician!

Nominating 5 blogs: Ooh this is tough... especially cos a lot of my fave blogs have already been nominated. Luckily I lurve LOTS of blog people.

Becca J Heath

Cathryn Brunet

Leah Ashton

Mira Lyn Kelly

Christina Phillips

Oh What a Night....

I stayed up late reading Mira Lyn Kelly's debut - Wild Fling and a Wedding Ring (gotta LOVE that title).

And WOW!!!!!!!!!!

For anyone aspiring to write Modern Heat or any category romance this book is a MUST read.

The story is about the lovely Calista (Cali) and the divine Jackson (Jake) - they meet at a bar, he rescues her and they end up in a phone booth. I won't say any more about the plot for fear of ruining the reading experience - as if!

But for those of us struggling to get a balance with conflict, Mira's book (I believe) is the perfect example of how the conflict doesn't have to be based on horrid childhoods, evil step mothers, abuse, a zillion dead bodies, etc etc etc. It just has to be clear, concise and the focus of the whole book.

Cali is a career driven heroine if ever I saw one and Jake has been there and done that where marriage is concerned. He has no desire to go there again. Mira shows how a simple conflict - when paired with fabulous three-dimensional characters - can drive the whole book. I really saw how plot devices are unnecessary and how 50k focusing almost solely on the relationship doesn't get boring if done properly.

Of coures I'm extremely jealous and reading Mira's book hasn't at ALL helped the severe case of doubts that have plagued me the last week or so, but I'm so glad I read it.

Wild Fling and a Wedding Ring is definitely a KEEPER!