my other, bigger problem...

I don't go into my office much any more... :(

I made another thing...

Cute, isn't it?

--
Telly: Eddie Izzard
Chocolate: HC
Mood: good
Writing: 600 words Buddies
Reading: last years accounts - yeuk!
RSI: not bad

in not un-Priscilla related news

You're Ed Exley!

Take the Which LA Confidential Cop Are You? Quiz
Also try some other quizzes.

feeling slightly groovy...

Having temporarily given up on Snakes on a Plane, because it's stupid and predictable and not even Samuel L. can save it, I've switched to watching some Eddie Izzard comedy tapes instead. I got a whole batch of them from a charity shop a while ago, and I'd forgotten all about them until my critique partner mentioned Eddie, and I remembered I'd got them.

And Eddie is indeed groovy [one of his favourite words...] So funny, so wacko, so spot on observationally too in a twisted sort of way. And for a slightly chunky lad, he's pretty too... and of course, he appeals to me especially as he's a bit of drag queen too. Not in the Priscilla way... but in a sort of glammed up, but wearable sort of style. If that makes sense? He seems to like to mix and match women's and men's clothes, which I think is really creative, so good luck to him!

In other groovy news...

Have been pushing ahead on Buddies Don't Bite, and though I'm in a slightly puddingy bit of the story at the moment, I'm keeping it moving, and I think I'll be able to tidy up the stodge in the editing. We're getting pretty close to the moment of truth, when it dawns on Teresa that Zack really is the thing she's been telling herself is silly and doesn't exist... :)

Have also had a bit of publishing type news... can't really trumpet about it just yet, but things are looking good on the getting into print front for one of my current projects. I never dare count the sale chickens until I've signed on the dotted line, but there's strong hope on this one...

So watch this space carefully!!!

--
Telly: Eddie Izzard
Chocolate: Chocolate Reindeer
Mood: groovy
Writing: 1.2K Buddies
Reading: computer manual of accounts software
RSI: bit sore, not too bad

two useful things...

I haven't yet done any writing today, but I have done two useful things. Sort of...

The first is spread the pink pretty plague across another of my web sites:

WendyWootton.co.uk

It's a bit of a lash up, and the whole site could do with redesigning and revamping, but thanks to the wonders of CSS style sheets I've been able to change my colours and my font, as well as cook up a few quick title graphics in Photoshop. It's no great wonder of design, but it looks a bit fresher... and it's still got my honest to goodness, ah bless, home made look. I hate over designed, over glossy author web sites that are all branded and all that... yek! If God had meant people to be branded he'd have made them into tins of beans!

I've also managed to begin to understand my new accounts software! Hurray! And I think I'm going to like it better than Quicken, actually so yah boo sucks to you ratfinks at Quicken who don't think the UK is important a place enough to continue creating your software for... The 'other' software program is much prettier, and I think it'll be able to do what I want...

Watched the last bit of Priscilla this morning over breakfast, then cycled to a bit of Snakes on a Plane... er... not sure I'm too keen on this, as it's one of those 'spot the person who's going to die horribly' movies... oh, and a cat just got 'snaked'... and I don't like that at all!!!!

I might like it better when Samuel L. Jackson starts swearing a bit more!

--
Telly: Snakes on a Plane
Chocolate: Hotel Chocolat
Mood: okay
Writing: must do some soon!
Reading: instructions for my accounts software
RSI: not bad

Which 'Priscilla' Drag Queen are you?

You're Anthony Belrose, AKA Tick, AKA Mitzi del Bra!

Take the Which Priscilla Queen of the Desert Drag Queen Are You? Quiz

Also try some other quizzes.

my film of the moment

I love this film! I saw it the other night on Film Four and immediately ordered myself the DVD. I'm now watching it for the third time in a week. It's very rare that a film comes along I can watch again and again like this, but the divine Priscilla is one of them. I love all the three main characters: dignified yet ascerbic Bernadette, sensitive yet sarky Mitzi and gorgeous but silly Felicia. It's amazing that not one of these three top actors are either gay or transsexual, but they give the performances of their lives making you believe their roles.

I think I've probably got a bit of a thing for drag queens... Three of my books and at least one of my stories all contain glamorous transvestite characters. I love the OTT glamour and the metamorphosis of man into a high impact facsimile of a woman...

Here's the inspiration for one of the earlier Da Costa Drag Queens...



Who the devil do you think this beauty is? Easy really...

--
Telly: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Chocolate: Hotel Chocolat
Mood: good
Writing: 1.1K Buddies Don't Bite
Reading: You Only Live Twice - Ian Fleming
RSI: bit of soreness, not too bad

pretty in pink

As you see, I've been playing again. I just felt like a change of look, and as two of my other sites are now pink, I thought I'd give this one a pretty in pink makeover... I don't really know what's with me and pink at the moment... Maybe it's a commitment to romance somehow. Wearingwise, I stick to black when I leave the house and meet my public, but I do like pink too. And red. And purple.

Today I've been proceeding with Buddies, wading through another longish sex scene. Not sure if it's working, but my splendid critique partner has offered to take a look at it and help me out with a second opinion. This particular book is turning out to be a bit of a plot free zone, just shambling along from one sex scene to the next, with a bit of angsty stuff and back story wedged in between the bonkage here and there.

--
Telly: Nuclear Secrets
Chocolate: Hotel Chocolat Seasonal Goodie Bag
Mood: not bad
Writing: 1.4K words Buddies
Reading: You Only Live Twice - Ian Fleming
RSI: wrists a bit sore

I missed Swan Lake!

Agh, I missed the programme on Swan Lake, and the ballet itself, both of which I was going to watch and enjoy this afternoon... this is due to himself tearing the house apart in a 'sort out' etc, and me being forced to participate! Grrrrrrrrrrr.....

So, if any kind and cultured soul in the UK, reading this, has taped these no doubt wonderful BBC programmes, would they be kind enough to lend me their tape? I would take the greatest care of it, and return it to you as soon as I've viewed it, but recorded delivery, or better. But I would so love to see this ballet, and the programme about it, as research for my heroine in TechnoGothic, who is an ex dancer.

Fingers crossed that someone out there can help me! There's a contact link in the navbar to the left, which leads to a webform to send me a message....

Thanks in advance!

achievement Sunday

Well, it's only 1.30pm and I've achieved quite a bit! Himself is muttering about 'doing things around the house' so I thought I'd better get my own tasks done first before I got roped in... So I've not only done my 30 mins static cycling, to music, I've also managed to get 1K words of Buddies done! A veritable miracle, no less, given how slowly this monster has been going of late. It was a pretty weird scene, in a maze, with Zack alone, musing on stuff... It's probably too slow, too introspective and too much of a back story blitz, but hey, it's words, innit? And any writing is better than no writing... I've also been jotting some notes for 'how it goes'... It's all a bit jumbled, and it seems that there's probably going to be far too much stuff to shoehorn into a short 25K novella... but again, hey, better to have too much and trim and refine it, rather than being woefully undercount and having to pad. I'll probably end up turning to my sweet, longsuffering CP for suggestions of where to winnow out a few words and paragraphs and bigger chunks here and there...

I have got quite a few jobs I'd like to get on with this afternoon, but I'm not sure if I'll get a chance... I don't mind though, because at least I've got the important stuff nailed and I can now not worry about getting railroaded into other activities!
--
Telly: 'Allo 'Allo
Chocolate: Tesco Light Choc Mousse
Mood: quite pleased
Writing: 1K Buddies Don't Bite
Reading: Radio Times
RSI: not much really

oops, I did it *again*!

Forgot to post... or wanted to post, but got so waylaid and weighed down by 'stuff' that when it came to it I just didn't have the psychological energy to communicate...

Ack, 'stuff'... so much of it at the moment, and at just the wrong time. I want to be pushing ahead with Buddies, and striking while the iron is hot with one or two other projects/ideas, but always these complications of various sorts get in the way and take huge chunks of my time and mental pep. My brain has never been the kind that can multi task and compartmentalise, so if there's crap in there to do with one thing, it knacks up just about everything else as well. I just seem to be in one of those phases where everything seems to come with extra complications... something must be in retrograde or whatnot... I can't think of any other explanation.

I want to write, and when I do get a clear run, and find my writing heart, I can see inklings of ways to make Buddies work. But then a whole bunch of other 'stuff' will pile on in and I'm muddled again... eg. this morning, got a bill from an email service that's been cancelled, so have to sort that out. Then, upgraded Omnidrive and it stopped working and stalled my computer... nice. Great upgrade there. Not. Oh, and a zillion other things too... Got a new accounts program, and though I'm sure it'll be fun to use and work well when I'm used to it, it's gonna require time to learn and adjust to... [Thanks, you gits at Quicken for discontinuing your program in the UK... I'm sure I'm not the only one you've right royally f***ed up!!! I hate you bastards!]

And I need to develop some more book ideas. My agent would like to see a couple of more proposals from me, based on some v. flimsy ideas I sent to her a while back. But nothing exists of them but a paragraph or two, and suddenly I need to build two whole 'worlds' and completely rewire one of the plots to make it romantic, and give the other one a whole other, non romantic plot and conflict to make it viable.... Waahhh!!!!!!!!! Me brain hurts! I'm having enough trouble with Buddies... Think I'm really, really gonna have to finish the first draft of that before I launch into these other things... I really don't know how writers who juggle several projects at once, at different stages of development, do it! I've only room, really, for one set of story people in my head at once... otherwise it gets like a scene from Heironymous Bosch in there [many apologies for the spelling of that famous artist's name, I'm just wildly guessing...]

And I haven't done my static cycling yet, either! And I say again... Waahhh!!!!

--
Telly: some crap about cooking
Chocolate: Tesco Belgian Milk
Mood: hysterically aggravated and frustrated by 'stuff'
Writing: wot be that, I ask?
Reading: annoying post
RSI: so so

oops, I missed a day...

Sorry about that, folks... I meant to post. But it just didn't happen due to a combination of lots of web work to do, and not feeling too fab, due to a mild migraine... pah! And fretting, I suppose, about Buddies, which I still don't feel at all confident about, despite my supposed breakthrough thingoid.

I just have this feeling it should be darker, edgier, more innovative or summink... And it's not. It's just the usual PDC style, with a bit of vampirism thrown in... and thrown in v. haphazardly because I don't ****ing well know what I'm doing! It still feels like a mess and a hodge podge and even though I sort of start to like it while I'm working on it, I dislike it intensely when I'm not. It veers between between being a plotless wonder, and something that has far too much backstory and whatnot to ever work as short 25K piece... I suppose I got over confident, with IllMet having come together so well and fitted nicely into the wordlength, not really needing much backstory at all... I was spoilt with that one, which really wrote itself in places... and I just assumed I could do the same thing with this one-liner idea I had for a vamp book! Silly me!

Am going to have to stop now as Tilly has just arrived and is attacking me in order to encourage me to feed him! I may return later...