Do you or don't you?

Okay... so my post titles are getting more and more original. NOT!

Basically I'm having a slump week. Don't know if it's because I've got to the stage where I can no longer NTAI my full sub without starting to feel depressed - thinking that its codswallop and there's no way they'll even ask me for revisions never mind buy - or PMT!!! Either way, it's not good for my writing.

There is one other reason - it could be the book I'm reading, which I'm enjoying but is one of those books about women in their mid-thirties looking at their life and not really being happy with what they see. It's not how the heroine imagined her life would be when she was fresh-faced and twenty. I'm pretty happy with my life - I have a loving hubby, three gorgeous sons, a part time job I like, a hobby I adore and the best friends a girl could hope for - but do books put ideas into our heads? Sometimes I wonder.

Anyway what I really wanted to know is do you read in your genre while you are in the writing stages of a book? I'm mostly targeting Mills & Boon Modern Heat and I try to read all the books that come out in this line (I'm very behind but I try). I've always read them at the same time I'm writing my own MH but I'm wondering if this is the right thing to do, or do I get swayed?

Would love to hear your thoughts on reading within your genre while writing!!

Just wondering...

While at the dayjob (or one of them) at the library today, I was putting back books on the shelf and it got me thinking about a genre I've always liked, don't read enough of and would love to write but don't think I have the KNOW-HOW!

That's right folks - I'm Rachael Johns, I'm a write-a-holic and one day I'd really love to pen a crime fiction!!! Or a mystery!

So I got wondering... do any of you lovely blog ladies have a genre you'd like to try but haven't had the guts to yet and wonder if you ever will? I'd love to hear :)

Help!

Okay... two posts in one day is probably a record for me but I NEED HELP!

My heroine needs a few good reasons why NOT to go stay with an absolute stranger!? Now Ithought that would be easy but the only reason I could come up with is that she doesn't know him and he might be a crazy psycho serial killer!?

Surely there's other reasons!? Please... help!!!

I can offer cyber chocolates for those who come up with fabulous witty reasons and hopefully one day the book will be published and you'll get a kick out of seeing your reason in print! It's a dream!

How do you know?

I figured it's been FAR TOO LONG between posts.

I'd like to say I've been working hard and getting contracts, but I've only been working marginally hard and I haven't heard from the Ed yet - still it's only been 3 and a half weeks, so I really need to learn a touch of patience.

Anyway in good NTAI tradition I started a new MH idea - OROD is its acronym and therefore it shall be referred to as OROD on the blog :)

I have written a partial synopsis, character conflicts and then first chap of OROD (sounds like sci-fi doesn't it?) I really love this first chap and thanks to my lovely CPs I'm hoping it now really, really sparkles. Problem is... usually when I write I have a clear idea of what the BM will be that tears these perfect lovers apart. And right now... I have zilch of an idea.

In essense... the heroine's conflict involves her being divorced and always feeling second best to her actress sister. Her sister is now dead and this leads the heroine to travel to LA for a a week. Here she meets drop-dead-gorgeous hero who just happened to be a VERY good friend of her sister's. His conflict is mainly related to the fact he was brought up in a home frought with arguments and hate and although he's escaped and made a good life for himself, he still feels essentially not good enough. She's only planning on staying in LA a week and ends up staying with him.

I'm hoping to write gorgeous sexual tension between them, which they don't consummate until her last night in LA... they both know the other is going back but I'm not sure what happens next!?

Anyway I'm really just rambling here and making sure you know I'm still alive and trying to work out wip issues. Hopefully I'll get my head around them soon and be able to continue with these characters and story I adore.

But just wondering... how many of you know how the BM and ending will pan out before you put pen to paper or finger to keyboard?

The Cure...

They say the cure for NTAI (that's not thinking about my full submission which is currently languishing on a 'metaphorical' desk at M&B) is getting stuck into a new project.

So I thought I'd tell you what I've been doing to try and keep my mind off the book that is now out of my hands:

1) Using Snapfish to begin to get up to date with the kid's photos. I try and do a photobook for each child for each year of their life. It's an aim... I'm WAY behind!

2) Tackling the never-ending pile of washing that constantly threatens to bury my entire household. As its winter down under and most clothes don't seem to be able to survive the dryer anynore, this task is even more daunting than it usually is.

3) Critting work from my lovely and talented CPs.

4) Planning and writing up a proposal/synopsis for my next Modern Heat idea... so that whatever the verdict on my subbed full, I'll have something else to hit them with. I'm finding this planning stage immensely enjoyable. LOVE my two new characters - Poppy and Nate - and think I've actually got their conflicts pretty solid and sorted but just have to work out what happens in the latter part of the book so I can finish the synopsis.

5) And today, I just dove right in and started writing an idea that's been mulling around in my head for quite some time. It's part chick-lit part rural romance I suppose. I'm trying for Single Title with this baby but am also trying to keep the pressure off. I'm writing this one for fun, not with publication in sight!

So... what is your favourite and best thing to do while you're waiting to hear back on a submission?

Goss!

Ahh... that got ya didn't it? What woman doesn't love a good gossip sesh?

My goss might not excite you as much as a good scandal though! The news is that last week, Thursday to be precise, I sent off my full mss to the editor I'm working with at M&B. Got a confirmation back that day and immediately began to quake in my fluffy pink slippers!! Trying to NTAI but you know... it's really rather pointless even trying.

In other news... today is Mother's Day down under and hubby has banished me from housework and told me to read all day!! Ahhh... the hardships.

I'm reading one of my auto-buy authors - Lisa Jewell. Her eighth book 'After The Party' is about what happens after the Happy Ever After of her first ever hero and heroine. I'm only a little way in but loving it!!!

So on that note, Happy Mother's Day to all those mummies out there!! I'm off to read.

Romancing The West!

As you know I spent the weekend in Perth attending the Romancing The West writing conference. It went FAR TOO FAST but was absolutely fabulous. Here's a quick run-down!!

I picked up the lovely Janette Radevski from the airport Friday arvo and then went out to dinner that night with Janette, Nikki Logan, Fiona Lowe, Fiona Palmer and Tracey another writing buddy. We chatted writing non-stop throughout dinner and despite them never delivering our hot chocolates, it was a fabulous and inspiring night.

Next day was RTW!! I was the MC for the day and was nervous cos I haven't done any public speaking in a very long time... but I really enjoyed the experience. I went to Fiona Palmer's workshop first up, about First chaps and even First Paras. She made us rewrite the beginning of a famous nursery rhyme in a number of different ways and I found it a much useful exercise.

Next I did Nikki Logan's workshop on Branding. I'm still in the process of working out my romance brand (ie. what I want to offer my readers, so they know what they'll get when they pick up a Rachael Johns book) but Nikki's workshop really helped and I'm getting closer. I've changed the tagline on my website to 'Fun and Quirky Feel-Good Fiction' but I still need to work out a positioning statement!

Finally I did Fiona Lowe's Tension workshop and had light-bulbs going off left, right and centre in what was a very tired brain by that stage of the day. We did a bit of brainstorming about how to create tension in our own work and I worked on my next MH idea, which I'm soon gonna write up a synopsis for. One thing that really stood out was making sure my characters start out as opposites in a lot of things.

Of course... for someone who loves to talk! Especially about ROMANCE... probably the best part of the day was catching up with my romance writing mates and just hanging out chatting with them.

I'll attach some pics of the event to this post (postscript - I can't seem to add pics and position them properly anymore so they are ALL at the top)!!! First pic is of three good writing friends on the Saturday Night- Audrey Barton, Janette Radevski and Leah Ashton. The second photo is the bunch of us who had dinner on Friday night!

More photos are available on the Romancing The West FB page - of which you are ALL more than welcome to join! Click on the RTW link at the top of this post.