2007 ahead...

more Giselle

I've watched the whole ballet now, and I'm slightly more warmly disposed towards Albrecht. On the strength of the performance of danseur Johan Kobborg in Act 2, I can believe he really loved Giselle after all, and was basically a mixed up guy who got torn between two worlds. Maybe he should have been honest with her, but hey, men [and women] aren't always honest with the people they're involved with and care for... I also re-read the story in a super book by my friend and web client Adele Geras. In Adele's interpretation, the tale is told from Albrecht's POV and she vividly conveys his confusion, regret and love for Giselle. I also feel more sympathy for Giselle... poor lass just succumbed to a relationship cock up, and I'm sure most women in the world have been there too. She was far more noble about it in the end than a lot of us would have been too...

I still feel v. sorry for poor old Hilarion, who didn't deserve his fate, because basically he was a good guy. But I suppose that plotwise, the ballet has to illustrate the power of the Wilis to dance a man to death, and he was an obvious candidate if they weren't going to kill off Albrecht....

But really, with ballet, it's less about the story and more about the performance. And having read a few synopses of famous ballets, they all seem pretty mental... It's the beautiful dancing that matters, and even if the reasons for the emotions are a bit contrived, the artistic power of gifted dancers can just make you sob, even if you think the story is rather silly...

ps. have decided not to post about New Year's resolutions and stuff, because I'm starting to find that it's all really getting on my tits! What's the point of making wild pronouncements about the year to come? To my mind it's asking for trouble...

not to be outdone

not to be outdone by Tilly, the supreme champion of demented posing - King Kuffer - hits back with killer!

I really must snap a few shots of Alice and Mulder soon, as the lads seem to be dominating this blog at the mo...

better?

Well, I think I'm beginning to get a handle on that paranormal story of mine... but even though I might end up with something I quite like, I still don't feel all that optimistic that the editor will like it. It might end up being one for a future self published shorts collection or something... It's been very weird to get the tone for this thing. It's more a slightly fun story, and not linked to any established mythos... just something inexplicable that may or may not be a trick of the imagination. Don't know whether this can be classed as paranormal or not, hence some of my doubts about it. If I get it right though... it'll be one for the delectation of my Vincent friends... I think the title alone gives sufficient hint of that... ie. the thing's called Watching The Detective!

Have been watching stuff to do with ballet in the last few days, as background research for TechnoGothic, which has an ex dancer as a heroine. Some behind the scenes stuff has been particularly useful, and now I'm watching a performance of the great romantic ballet Giselle. Masses of elements of gothic tragedy in this story... and the juxtaposition of love and death is always powerful, but the plotline really does irritate me in a lot of ways because Prince Albrecht, the supposed hero, is such a jerk! And Giselle herself is a nitwit for falling for such a selfish user. Down to earth Hillarion is the guy who really loves her, and what does he get? Bumped off by the magic dancing fairies when he should actually be *rewarded* for his love and devotion! While soppy, self centered Albrecht gets away with it... He's supposed to be eternally sorrowful, but I bet you anything when the curtain goes down he v. quickly gets over it and is back to chasing innocent peasant babes in a different village to get his end away before very long...

--
Telly: Giselle
Chocolate: Cadbury's Chocolate Biscuits
Mood: okay
Writing: Watching The Detective 1.4K words so far
Reading: Radio Times
RSI: not bad, have deduced that my current twinges are due to cracking walnuts!!!

and now for something....

completely different...

The last post was a bit depressing and downbeat, so in an attempt to redress the balance, here's Tilly again! Although Kuffer is still the supreme champion of the downright bonkers pose, Tilly is definitely a promising stylist too...

oh dear...

I've started writing again, but it's proving hard, hard, hard at the moment. Horrible. Like bashing my head against a brick wall or trying to plait fog.

I'm trying to write a paranormal short story for an anthology... and it's not going well. There are many problems:

1. have gone through several ideas and they're all weak as tap water...
2. have started two, actually, and neither has come to life...
3. the more I try, the weaker, more wooden, and more contrived whatever I try to write becomes...

The biggest problem is, I think, that I'm constantly aware of the competition to get into this anthology, and I start measuring myself against the 'opposition' before I've even the faintest idea what sort of thing said opposition is writing... I hobble myself with thoughts about how 'fresh', 'groundbreaking', 'edgy' and 'literary' a lot of these folk are... and I throw myself into a depressing flat spin of panic because I know that's exactly what I'm *not*. I'm derivative. I mostly rehash themes of long, long standing and just hope that I can muddle through in my own peculiar way. But everybody these days is expecting this 'fresh' stuff... and *quite rightly*... and those of us who are unfresh [God, how revoltingly icky does that sound?] and basically pretty shallow in terms of psychological depth and all that are in big, big trouble. And it doesn't help that I had a story rejected for the previous anthology in this series... That has ****ed me up right royally.... And yeah, yeah, yeah, a real pro would put that behind her and come up with some dazzling sure thing for the next anthology. But that's easier said than done... well, it is for me...

However, having whinged like a good 'un here, I'm still going to keep on trying for a while yet. I don't want to give up and opt out. That's just being a total loser... But I may end up ditching the short I'm working on at the moment if it doesn't shape up soon and stop being an immense pile of pooh. At the moment, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever what I can replace it with... but I'll just have to hope and pray some tired old chestnut of an idea will suddenly present itself, along with a way of making itself sound not to boring and repetitive....


--
Telly: ballet
Chocolate: Cadbury's Chocolate Biscuits
Mood: not great
Writing: completely shitty and useless short story
Reading: Window XP Magazine
RSI: so so

back again... sort of...

Oh, it's hard, very hard, to get into the groove again after Christmas. In an ideal world, I'd just stay with this vibe... leisurely days where I get up late, watch telly most of the day, breaking off now and again to eat something delicious or have a natter with himself about something fairly inconsequential... A totally relaxed carry on, no worrying and fretting about writing at all, just chilling out, spending time with the cats... pure bliss. I don't think I'd miss writing at all if I had the money to opt out... I suppose I'd get bored eventually and maybe start writing bits and pieces of self indulgence, just to amuse myself... but think how much more pleasurable a kind of writing that would be when I could just doodle along doing exactly what I wanted and not fret about editorial guidelines or emerging market trends.

Still, it's not a perfect world, and I'm going to have to get back in the saddle sooner rather than later because I have a zillion things to do. But it's tough to focus... even on this babble here. I flit around the blogs and everybody else seems to be getting with the program. Reflecting thoughtfully on what they've achieved in 2006 or looking forward to what they'll be doing, or having published in 2007. Also making resolutions and worthy plans for career strategies or working methods in the coming year... Me? Well, just the thought of it makes me want to run round the house screaming in panic and waving my hands about!!! It's all so hard... there's so much to do... my 'writing head' seems to have turned to Christmas pudding, and I can barely seem to string two words together any more... I just want to crawl back to bed, and only pop my head out from under the covers to eat some chocolate or watch a repeated movie I've seen a dozen times before...
--
Telly: anything and everything
Chocolate: Cadbury's Chocolate Biscuit Selection
Mood: suppressed panic
Writing: not a word
Reading: Radio Times
RSI: unexpected sore, given I'm not doing anything!

Christmas Holidays...

I'm sort of opting out for the Christmas Break now... but if you fancy winning some triffic Black Lace books... esp. one exceptionally fab one of mine... Nip over to Lust Bites and join in a spiffing competition!

ugh, just in time for Christmas...

Dammit, I've got a cold, I think! Just in time for Christmas... nice one, you germs, you! My inclination at the moment is just to crawl into bed, rest up, and maybe emerge to cook the Christmas dinner in a joint operation with himself... but I've so much to do! And not just Christmas prep... I've got my vamp novella to get on with, some updates for a web client, a paranormal short that I'd also like to do [because I've finally had a worthwhile idea for it!] and I hardly dare think about the amount of annual accounts I have to catch up with, having not done any since around last June!!! I've also just sold a short-short to a new magazine, and I'd like do do more of those too... Ack, it's all too much!

I've just been giving the movie Underworld another chance... and I still don't like it! It's all flash and dash and shoot'emups, without benefit of any soul, artistry or characterisation. Everyone just stomps around shouting and frowning in a plot that makes very little sense. Oh, I'm certain the lads just love Kate Beckinsale prancing around in tight black vinyl, but I'm afraid no amount of sexy costuming can make up for a wooden performance and a permanent scowl. I'm sure she's a fine actress and has put in great performances in other roles, but in this, no, she's just irritating to watch.... After watching the charm, the beauty and the subtlety of the two Dracula interpretations I've been watching in the past few days, Underworld is woeful... All it's self important 'pronouncing' just seems silly and juvenile, compared to the rich performances of both Frank Langella and Gary Oldman as the Dark Count and the genuine drama of the classic plot. In the coming days, there's a new version of Drac on the Beeb, and I'll be watching that with interest... Not sure how I'll like the treatment, and or fact that it plays fast and loose with the traditional storyline... but I'm sure it can't be worse than Underworld.
--
Telly: Underworld... ugh... Life of Mammals
Chocolate: Tesco Swiss Milk
Mood: weary... viral...
Writing: bits of ideas
Reading: Radio Times
RSI: not bad

Atilly the Cat

Proving that it's not just Kuffer who can do mad positions... Tilly gets comfy on a pile of himself's coats!

Yowsah, I just won an Award!!!!

I opened my copy of SCARLET this morning, and what did I discover?

Only that I've won the Award for Best Lesbian Sex Scene in their new annual Erotic Writing Awards for a naughty scene in a biker's cafe toilet in Entertaining Mr Stone!

I am well chuffed, I can tell you!

can I do vampires?

More work today on my vampire thingoid. Mostly, in fact completely rewriting the bit I did yesterday and the day before... That was just a sketch really, and exercise, just 'stuff' to get the thing started. I sometimes do that... just write nonsense really, just so there's something I can wrangle into something else. I feel better when I'm doing something rather than nothing...

I'm just starting to get a feeling for my vamp hero, Zack... I'm starting to see a picture of him in my mind, and a sense of his characteristics through the eyes of Teresa, my heroine. The fun bit is that *she* doesn't know he's a vamp yet, so I've to sneak in vampish things that she interprets as something else! I've to be crafty... the reader and I know he's a vamp, but she remains oblivious, although she knows he's not quite a normal guy!

This is my first vampire story ever... I've done paranormal, short and long, before but never actual vampires. I've done plenty of ghosts and sorcerers and even zombies once or twice... but not our toothy friends with a partiality for blood. But I've sure watched enough vamp movies and telly... all flavours of Dracula, plus tons of Spike and Angel... So I think I can probably hack my own particular version of the mythos.

Favourite vamps of mine? Spike, of course, Gary Oldman as Dracula, Frank Langella as Dracula, Angel... I once even had a tiny bit of a thing for Detective Nick Knight from Forever Knight... I'm also really looking forward to a new version of Dracula on the Beeb over Christmas starring Marc Warren... should be interesting, to say the least.
--
Telly: Superman Returns - v. good!
Chocolate: Tesco Swiss Milk
Mood: good
Writing: Buddies... also some work on a mini short
Reading: nothing much
RSI: okay

busy busy busy

An astonishingly productive day! Probably the equivalent of lying like a slug to some of the more super prolific authors out there, but for me, a very satisfying day indeed...

Have been working on a new novella, another paranormal, bit of a vamp thing... Not quite sure what I'm doing with it, and it's a bit of dog's breakfast so far, but managed to ramp up a K of words per day so far, so at least it's moving and not standing still.

I think I'm starting to get into this novella thing, and also, slightly, this paranormal thing... Certainly feel v. happy now about IllMet... got the verdict of my CP, and she thinks it's terrific! So it's off now to my agent, and thence to the editor... Fingers crossed for me, eh?

--
Telly: Dracula [1979 - Frank Langella... phwoooarrgh!]
Chocolate: Tesco Swiss Milk
Mood: v. positive for me
Writing: Buddies Don't Bite 1k words, IllMet tweaking
Reading: ComputerActive
RSI: mild

Lust Bites Christmas Party

The Lust Bites Christmas Party
Via Fossa, Canal Street, Manchester
Saturday 16th December 2006

no pix today...

Luckily for you all! I think I inflicted enough unmadeup horror on you yesterday! LOL

Still grappling with IllMet... and I need to get my finger out on this one and get it subbed to agent, then editor. Over the last couple of days I've been tinkering with one of Robin's physical characteristics... no, not that one... and I can't decide whether it's in or it's out... no, still not that one... I sort of decided to change it when I began the edit, but last night, I reinstated it... the resultant word wrangling turned the whole thing into a piece of crud. This morning, however, I've decided I like it again, and the reinstatement was correct.

I have so much to do over the weekend and in the run up to Christmas, but tomorrow I'm taking time out for a Transpennine expedition to Manchester to meet up with some other Black Lace authors for a Festive celebration. So watch out if you are in the general Canal Street/Piccadilly area... If you encounter a quartet of guffawing females, discussing the relative merits of various rude words, you'll know it's Madelynne Ellis, Nikki Magennis, Mathilde Madden and I out on our Christmas jollies! :)

I'm sure these esteemed ladies are just dying to meet 'the legendary Portia Da Costa ©''... if only to discover if she's as big a twit in person as she seems in this blog! LOL

--
Telly: snooker
Chocolate: Tesco milk with wholenut
Mood: okay
Writing: IllMet
Reading: Christmas cards
RSI: not bad

from the sublime to the ridiculous

Nice hair, shame about the face...

After yesterday's divine pic of Vincent, here's something far less heavenly. It's hairdo day, and here's my barnet, all freshly bleached and trimmed by the wonderful Anne! Very daringly, this is a no makeup shot... as will be abundantly obvious... but at least I'm smiling like a human being [almost] and only a few of my chins are on show!

--
Telly: UK Documentary
Chocolate: Tesco Milk with Hazelnut
Mood: okay
Writing: not yet
Reading: Cosmopolitan
RSI: not bad

crushed....

It's 'crushes' day over at LustBites and here's mine... surprise, surprise...

The Film that started It All...

IMDb

Well, it didn't actually start everything to do with my writing career... That's down to a certain pop video that I loved at the time, but would never own up to being inspired by now...

But my first ever published novel, Adventures in the Pleasurezone owes a lot to the magnificent 1983 sci-fi masterpiece BRAINSTORM. Basically, it's a story about the development of a virtual reality technology that can record a person's experiences and emotions in order that they can be played back, and 'lived' again by another person. It sounds a techie sort of film, and in some ways it is, but it's also a powerfully emotional movie that explores issues of spirituality and consciousness and the way visionary scientists can have their magnificent breakthroughs exploited and ****ed over by vested interests, the military and The Man in general. It also has a very sweet and poignant love story at the heart of it, that's made even more touching because the actress who's a part of it, the very fine Natalie Wood, died just before the film was completed. It also stars one of my all time favourite actors, Christopher Walken, who looks so young in this that he's almost angelic. In fact he's called 'angel' at one stage in the proceedings. If you ever get a chance to see this movie on the telly or on DVD, give it a whirl and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

The way it inspired me was that I too took up the theme of virtual reality and applied it to an erotic scenario in Adventures... although my VR machine had one or two attachments that weren't employed in Dr Michael Anthony Brace's apparatus in Brainstorm! LOL! But basically, it explored the creation of fantasy sensual worlds that could be experienced as 'real'...

VR is a theme I've sort of returned to in TechnoGothic too, which is why I've been revisiting Brainstorm. My Alexander Graves is a sort of darkly dramatic, damaged, millionaire ex playboy version of Dr Brace... A brilliant, glamorous polymath who now hides himself away, obsessing over arcane computer code and esoteric electronics and experiencing the world via his own exotic creation...

--
Telly: Brainstorm, obvously
Chocolate: Tesco Swiss Plain
Mood: okay
Writing: editing IllMet
Reading: nothing
RSI: not bad

Suite Seventeen..... at Amazon.co.uk!!!!

It's listed!

Suite Seventeen - at Amazon.co.uk

They've spelt my name wrong... because they've got the info from Amazon.com, and they spelt it wrong at first too... but hey, it's now available for pre-order for those who must have access to *my* Valentino ASAP!

christmas... again...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm whining again... But I'm angry with myself more than anything. I wish I didn't feel so negatively about Christmas prep. I want to feel a warm seasonal glow of love for my fellow men and women... I want to give gifts and send cards and make people happy with my efforts. I want to think about the deeper significance... feel goodwill to all and remember what the Christmas season is all about...

But it's just making me crazy, and I hate myself for that. I wrote a handful of cards today, and ordered two or three presents online, and it seemed to take up the whole day. How can that happen? I ended up with my head just spinning and my brain fuzzed. And no work done!

I'm going to have to generate a more positive attitude to Christmas though... I'm going to have to relax and enjoy it all! At the rate I'm going, people may not get their cards and pressies in time for the actual day, but that doesn't mean I don't care for them... and then at least they'll have a gift or a good wish turning up in the days after Christmas, when they might be feeling a bit of an anti climax after the festivities of the main event. Hopefully...

Anyway, seeing as it's all crap here, you'd best nip over to the LustBites blog. We need a few readers to post on the current topic, 'cos at the moment it's still a bit incestuous with only us authors commenting on each others' comments!!! The topic today is Work... yeah, I know, yawn, but it's not like that at all. It's all about what job you'd like the heroes and heroines of the books you read to have... So make some suggestions mebbe, eh? And in terms of jobs us authors have had, some of the girls have had some fun jobs in the past, and *lots* of them. Not like yours truly who has had two non writing, non web design jobs and they were both crap. Being a librarian drove me mad. Literally. And being a clerk in Local Government drove me mad with rage most of the time... even though I did meet some nice folk in both those jobs.

Any road up, nip over if you feel so inclined... And say hello to your humble servant, PDC! :)

--

Telly: Tango, Carlos Saura : Brainstorm [best film evah]
Chocolate: Lindt Swiss Milk and cake
Mood: bonkers
Writing: edited two paragraphs of IllMet
Reading: nothing, me brain won't work
RSI: not too bad

panic attack

Woke up feeling moderately okay this morning [apart from the fact that our part time cat Tilly woke me up about 5am, dancing on my head, trying to get me to get up and feed him!] but mid morning, I had a sort of panic attack...

Too much going on, that's it, and my pathetic multi tasking skills just aren't up to the job. I just freaked out and had to just lie down and watch the telly... my brain just wouldn't work. Tuned into UK History, and just vegged out to it, levering myself up now and again to swig a bit of tea...

Feel better now, mainly due to the therapy of doing a little bit of work on IllMet... It's not the greatest writing in the world, but I found myself sort of 'interested' in it during the read back, despite its many glaring flaws. Even though it's only a few weeks since I finished the first draft, I'd almost completely forgotten what happened in it, so it's quite exciting to see how the story goes!

--
Telly: The Life of Birds
Chocolate: cake instead
Mood: weird, sort of panicky and troubled
Writing: editing IllMet
Reading: not at the moment
RSI: not too bad

Help... it's nearly Christmas!!!

© Maria Brzostowska - FOTOLIA

Alas, this is not a piccie of all the lovely pressies I have packed and ready to send to people for Christmas... because basically, I haven't packed any pressies for Christmas yet. I haven't even bought most of them! I don't know what's happened in the last few months, the days have flown and flown by and I don't really know what I've done with them... apart from write a bit. For ages it was 'oh there's months yet...' and suddenly now, it's just over a couple of weeks to Christmas and I'm in a flat spin. In past years, I've always loved to peruse the many charity catalogues that arrive, and choose gifts from them. Sort of to salve my conscience for being such a thoroughly self centered bitch queen all the time. At least that way I was doing a bit of good at the festive season... but this year I've left it far too late, and will now have to call on the services of dear old Amazon and the delectable Hotel Chocolat, both of whom will wrap and deliver the pressie direct to the recipient. It's a lazy way to do things... and I know other people will have spent many hours wrapping their gifts and investing personal time in their preparation... which is part of the gift itself... but I think it's the only way I'm going to be able to cope at this late stage.

But I promise to do better next year! Next year, I will think ahead, plan ahead, and choose gifts ahead from all my favourite charities. In fact, I will make sorting out Christmas ahead of time one of my NY resolutions!!!

CEotFK

This is most unusual... Note position of Kuffer's tail.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

for so many reasons...

• yesterday was more or less a bust, writingwise...
• think a bit cockup has been made in respect of something I posted yesterday, resulting in the loss of a chunk of money
• the crappy weather and stress factors are making every bit of my body ache... again...
• Christmas is looming and I've done next to nothing towards it...
• Yahoo went weird yesterday, resulting in lost posts...
• all my other email addresses seem to be f-ed up too, resulting in me never knowing whether important emails have got to their destinations...

On the writing-bust-wise front... Have started some editing on IllMet and really, the first chapter is a pile of horse dollop! It's bad. Just bad. Dead and wooden as can be. And I know why. I 'translated' it from an old bit of first person writing I did, like, years ago and as the original bit was poor, the new version is poor too. Think I may have to print this bit off, read it, then rip it out of the MS completely and rewrite the whole first scene. I'm starting to have doubts about the whole opus, actually... The usual story... I have this horrible fear that my writing isn't 'intelligent' enough... isn't 'special' enough... Both those barbs have been aimed at me in the past... The first right at the beginning of my career when some pretentious git in an erotica mail order catalogue deemed that my first ever book wasn't 'intelligent' writing.... Well, up yours buster! The mail order business soon disappeared and I'm still here! The second was when my long suffering agent was trying to place my one and only attempt at a women's mainstream novel, and an editor somewhere said that my writing was good, but the book 'just wasn't special enough'... well, I think she was right, to be honest. In fact I know she was right. It was pretty much a 'nothing' idea... Mainstream is way beyond my scope... You need big ideas, and a fair degree of confidence, to launch into that arena, and I don't have either... There are some writing things I'm quite good at, when I'm 'in the zone', but generally I'm only too aware of my limitations.

I sometimes wonder if I should actually ignore my limitations though... approach my writing as if I sincerely believe that I'm a freaking genius and nothing I do can possibly be wrong... and just get carried along on the wave of my own self belief [importance]? What do you think? Is it worth a shot? LOL

Today I'm at...

LUST BITES - the spiffing new blog for Black Lace authors and other Virgin Publishing reprobates!

oh, it's not happening today!

Jeepers, I can't get off the blocks today with any kind of constructive, writing type activity. It's nearly 11.30am and I've done jack shit as my beloved American buddies would say. Well, not exactly nothing... really... I've actually:

• sent the partial of TechnoGothic to my lovely, lovely critique partner
• trawled Amazon for a few possible Christmas pressies
• thrown out a few mags and catalogues, although not, alas, anything from the Everest of assorted crud beside my bed
• sent a few emails
• replied to a few emails

Today, I ought to be getting on with an editing pass of IllMet... but me being me, I'm scared to look at it in case it's just pooh. I think reading all that sparkling debate on women's erotica yesterday has made me feel a bit thick again [still]... I'm not a great one for analysis of what I write, how I write, or why I write. Except, the latter, slightly... I write because I can, a bit, and because I like to please people and share my some of my fanciful ideas with them [and also the fact that I occasionally do manage to actually have an idea!] and because it's nice to earn a little bit of money for doing something that's not for The Man. I mostly write stuff that comes purely from my instincts and that sort of 'feels good'. It's as simple as that. No technique, no subtexts, no allusions, no commentary, no challenging or testing or dazzling the reader with stylistic pyrotechnics... just something to entertain. A bit of magic, if I can manage it, although not usually of the actual supernatural kind. Lurrve... Mischief... I don't know...

Ack, I'm starting to fuzz up my brain! This always happens when I try to get serious for a minute... Think I need to dash over to Cute Overload or Catster and look at pictures of appealing puddycats and/or baby wabbits. :)

ps. here's a fun thing if you're trying to avoid work!

--
Telly: nothing yet
Chocolate: Tesco Dark with Espresso
Mood: disorganised
Writing: nowt, yet
Reading: Amazon book descriptions
RSI: not bad

100th post!

This is my 100th post on this blog! Soon racked 'em, didn't I?

Bit of a mixed day today. I've finished a pass of TechnoGothic, and I'm in a quandary as to whether I do another... it might benefit from another edit, but then again, I might have reached critical mass and any further tinkering may result in the text losing all it's life and become wooden and overworked...

So instead, I did some tidying up on the synopsis of IllMet... Ack, I hate synopses! But this one needed work. It was filled with such gems as 'Lois and Robin bonk' and 'Lois goes for a walk and sees a funny looking hare'... Need to buff the thing up a bit and fill it with a smattering of more editor-enticing phraseology!

Speaking of editors, I've spent a lot of the afternoon here. Some excellent discourse, although it all got a bit too intellectual towards the end for this entertainer... found myself glazing over and reaching for The Sun when folk started bandying the Marquis de Sade and Susan Sontag about. LOL!

--
Telly: The Ballerina and the Blues
Chocolate: Tesco Dark with Espresso
Mood: okay
Writing: synopsis - Ill Met By Moonlight
Reading: Radio Times
RSI: not bad

Entertaining Mr Stone

Another splendiferous review for EMS - this time at Romance Divas! [nb. it's a pdf]

I love it how people really seem to 'get' Clever Bobby... :)

--
Telly: The Ballerina and the Blues
Chocolate: Tesco various
Mood: okay, but a bit unfocused
Writing: nothing yet
Reading: nothing yet
RSI: so so

quite busy today

Have been quite busy today, working hard on TechnoGothic, refining and improving and generally breathing the breath of Portia Da Costa into the rough and rather weak first rough draft. Sometimes stuff comes out right, straight out of the gate... other times, it's total pooh, and really needs strong-arming into some kind of shape. Refining usually means cutting out a load of superfluous wordage crud, and phraseology that distances the reader from the book and from the characters... and making the writing more direct, and immediate, so that the reader is 'in' the character more. This is usually easier in first person, and slightly harder in third. TechnoGothic is third person, so I can do big, big chunks in Alexander's POV... I know some people have ventured into dual first person, but after a lot of deliberation I find that's not for me, because most times when I read it, I find it confusing, so God alone knows what would happen if I tried to write it! It would turn into the biggest jumble of the century and be v. embarrassing. I'm not a literary or experimental writer... I just like to stay in the comfort zone of entertainment, and write a nice luvvyduv style romance story, with *lots* of heart and an equal amount of rumpy pumpy shagnasticality... :)

So, we're in third person, so yours truly has to work double hard to ensure that the writing seems almost as intimate as if it was in first! I think I'm getting it, and I like my hero and heroine much better after I've worked them over... In the first draft they were both far to sorry for themselves and full of self disgust over various issues, and now they accept their lots much better. In fact Robyn is quite a cheerful soul in the new version, and very philosophical... Alexander is still a bit of grouch, but he's an interesting grouch... and he's got to be a bit of one because he's Beast to her Beauty... only without the fur, the snout and the tail!

I think this could be a fun book to write if some lovely editor will give it a chance... it's got lots going for it and it's full of contrasts. Full of darks and lights, happiness and poignancy, weak and strong, chubby and thin... All of human life is there... well, some of it...

--
Telly: afternoon movies
Chocolate: Maya Gold
Mood: quite positive
Writing: editing TechnoGothic
Reading: ComputerActive
RSI: reasonable

Happy Google Day, Vincent D'Onofrio

Had to be a part of this, didn't I? Love this pic because it says such naughty, naughty things to me!

I am bad....

No work done today... Instead I've been foofling about with all sort of things, including signing my cats up at Catster, which is a sort of MySpace for cats, thankfully without all the music and glitter!

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Telly: Blue Planet, The Green Berets
Chocolate: Tesco Swiss Milk
Mood: Lazy
Writing: thought about TechnoGothic a bit
Reading: been online mostly
RSI: not too bad

testing testing...

Test post of Alice...
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Telly: Battle of Britain - fab!!!
Chocolate: Ritter Tesco Swiss Milk
Mood: Goodish
Writing: editing TechnoGothic
Reading: TechnoGothic...
RSI: not too bad

Blogger! Blankety blanking blank!!!

Blogger is behaving like a total *rse at the moment! Hope to post properly later.




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Telly: Beauty and the Beast
Chocolate: Ritter Marzipan
Mood: Pissed off with Blogger!
Writing: editing TechnoGothic
Reading: nothing really
RSI: slightly better

New Poll!

A question for women who read erotic romance... Do you like to read the hero's point of view? And how much of it?

Yes, lots! Some, in order to get to know him... No, prefer to see things solely through the heroine's eyes.

Make Free Online Polls

Please vote! I'm working on TechnoGothic, and to me it feels as if the book should start in the hero's point of view, and be told equally through his eyes as it is through the heroine's... Alex is shaping up to be a very complicated, deep and rather dark character and I want readers to know him and understand him...