disturbing... but also v. good!!!

http://www.myheritage.com

A disturbing result in that I look like as many men as women... but look who clocks in at #9!!!

irresponsible Saturday

I am bad. For two days, I've done virtually no writing. Friday, well, I suppose I have an excuse as I did have a busy day doing some much needed housework, and I did manage a hundred or so words... But yesterday, I was freaking useless! I managed to send a few emails that were needed, but most of the day I spent mucking about with my MySpace Profile and making silly slideshows and playing with various other web widgets and squidgets. I suppose this is both the blessing and the curse of broadband. It makes 'playing about' so much easier, because back when I was on dialup, the slow connection speed made most of the nice toys virtually unusable. But now I can give full reign to my procrastination skills and fondness for displacement activities. Damn!

Today, in the UK, we have an 'extra hour' due to the clocks being set back an hour for winter. I'm trying not to waste the extra time, and I have indeed done a tiny bit of writing so far, but I've got the worrying niggle of a gathering headache at the moment and I'm hoping it's not one of the dreaded migraines...

I'm quite pleased with the little chunk I've just written though. I was at a point, in a scene, where I didn't know what to do, but I've found a way to get through it, and can now move on to a more interesting section... And the thing with a novella is that you really do bash through it quite quickly, it being so short! I've done about 30% already! Novellas are quite a special craft, and you have to work hard to 'get it all in' in such a short wordcount [25K in this case] but I can see why so many authors like writing them. There's potential for feeling a sense of achievement in a relatively short space of time. And when you've got the attention span of a fruit fly, like me, that is a very good thing!

Words done so far today: 804

look wot I made!

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

for Non-Working Monkey

Photographs of a garden... allegedly.

Non-Working Monkey's Garden

'home' day...

I've done no writing at all so far today, because it's been a 'home' type day. Which entails me making like a housey-house wife for the first time in a blue moon!

I admit it, I am the most disgusting undomesticated slut around the house, and have a high tolerance for disorder, clutter and grime. But every now and again, I think enough is enough, and I have a little 'do'... Not a great spring clean or anything, just a skim type clean up to stem the tide of the worst of the filth and grunge. So today I:

• sorted out a mountainous pile of *clean* washing and put it away
• did a major wash of dirty washing... the hamper was disturbingly full
• flung Zoflora all around the bathroom and toilet, plus scrubbed at things with those scrubby cloths that are advertised on the telly
• defrosted the fridge... needed it as the pong from himself's Camembert was doing my head in
• flicked a duster around in one or two places that actually show
• hoovered where I could get to ie. places not filled with clutter, and clutter that we are looking after for one of himself's mates
• did all oustanding washing up

My reward for all this activity was the central heating finally going on! Actually, I could have had it on a lot sooner, as the pilot light was still on from last year, so all it needed was the thermo turning up. Any road up, it's lovely and toasty warm now and I don't have to creep around like a Michelin man with about eight layers of clothes on. Yippee!

In other news... I don't half love Blogger Beta, but I think my sidebar is starting to get a bit mental. Because I can put widgets and squidgets there, I've just gone hog wild with them, and stuck in every thing but the kitchen sink... [might actually find a pic of a kitchen sink and put that there too!] I think eventually I might weed out a few things and streamline it a bit, but for the moment I'm loving the ability to add interesting things to the nav/sidebar. It's like being let out of prison after the measly limitations of Bravejournal [not to mention the ****ing ads you have to contend with there, even if you pay!]

Speaking of my sidebar, please have a go at voting in my poll of what sort of erotic romance you'd prefer me to write... I've only got one vote so far - and that's from me for 'kinky contemporary'!

Words done today: 190

paranormal issues

Am proceeding reasonably well, wordcountwise, with IllMet... but I'm also beginning to dwell on what it is about the idea of writing paranormal erotic romance that perplexes me. I find I'm writing too much story in proportion to the amount of sex. This seems to be the bugbear with paranormals to me, the 'paranormal tends to get in the way of the people'. Now if this were a paranormal romance, as opposed to a paranormal erotic romance... this would probably work better. But there has to be quite a lot of sex in one of these efforts, and so far I've spent much more time on the actual story and setup than I have on actual bonking or pervage. I'm really having to make an effort to get my characters into rumpo action... and it shouldn't be that way. It should be effortless, intrinsic, just there...

Anyway, I know I shouldn't really fret myself about it because this is just a first draft, a rough sketch, almost a cartoon for the oil painting [hah!] of the book. I'm just getting the bare bones down... there will be lots of opportunity for adding, subtracting, refining and enhancing. At this stage it is not.set.in.stone!!!

Words done today so far: 1315

it's this one, Val...

I see him sort of like this, only maybe a bit younger, and with gold streaked hair... The all black outfit really speaks to me somehow.

having blahed on yesterday

about not getting anything done until the late afternoon, I've broken my writing duck surprisingly early today. I started writing mid morning and have done a mini chunk of IllMet already! I'm in Robin's mind now... which is a bit weird, because I'm not really sure what he is! How does a creature think, who doesn't have an actual brain most of the time? I suppose as he's my creature, I can make up the rules, but I'm sure there'll be people out there, if this thing ever gets to print, who'll pick holes with my mythos, even if I've the one who's cooked it up!

At the moment, it's getting a bit introspecty, so we need to get a bit of action next, and preferably some sexy action, so Robin's got to finish with the thinky, thinky, thinky for a while and start doing something... or more probably doing somebody, either Lois or himself! LOL!

I think the inspiration for this early-for-me start came from an episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent I've just been watching, courtesy of the wonderful, wonderful Eliza. It will come as no surprise to people that Robin is very much about.the.Divine.Vincent... although probably a younger and trimmer Vincent than the current version, and with slightly modified hair and eyes. I may post a pic soon that gives a sense of what Robin looks like, if not a truly accurate representation. I have the perfect one amongst my collection of 10x8's.

Words done so far today: 1275

[ps. forgot to mention... have my supernumerary feline visitor on the bed again today ie. Tilly... he was biting my laptop a bit ago, to try and get my attention, but at the moment he's settled down for a kip!]

a strange writing phenomenon

These last few days I've been experiencing a rather weird phenomenon in my writing method.

Basically, I've felt like crap all day, and done virtually nothing productive... and then around 5pm in the afternoon, I've started writing or editing. I think it's a case of desperation setting in, more than anything. The horror and disgust with myself for wasting yet another day just drives me into trying to write something, if only a teeny tad.

Today I've been mainly polishing my first chapter of Ill Met By Moonlight [working title of my paranormal thingoid] and adding one or two more refinements/quirks to Robin's personality and paraphysical characteristics. I've also begun a bit that's told from Lois's POV too, trying to introduce her and give the readers a sense of what kind of woman she is. In the original version scrap, she was a bit 'hard', but she's coming across as softer and more sympathetic - I hope - in this new take on the story. She's still quite sparky though, but in a gentler and more wry way.

Words done today: 1098

for the sake of it...

Non-Working Monkey can't be doing with people who put photos of their pets all over the place... so here's a cute piccie of Mulder! :)

agh... nothing achieved...

Ack, now I've got stomach ache too! I don't know whether it's my usual dyspepsia, or this thing himself has had... either way, it's knocked creativity on the head today. Mostly.

I suppose I have been thinking about my paranormal novella idea a bit, and also refining certain aspects of the outline with the help of my critique partner. I bounced my ideas off her, she bounced them back with some great suggestions. I bounced the idea back, she liked it and offered another suggested tweak or two, and finally, thanks to her sure instincts, I think I've more or less got a plan for it. But now I have to write the suckah!

The hero is called Robin, and he might be a fairy, he might be some kind of spirit of the woods, or he might be something else altogether... I don't think it's really necessary to be too specific. I only know that he's tall and hunky and delicious and has dark hair frosted with gold, and extremely unusual eyes...

best laid plans...

Oh, I was going to do so much today... and I'm afraid it's not going to happen. Himself is off work ill and needs a bit of TLC and attention. Because I mostly work in the bedroom, and he's in the bedroom, I can't really do a lot workwise. I could go in my office, but that's just being mean and callous somehow... I feel I need to stay around him, for moral support as much as anything, poor baby.

An excellent site was brought to my attention today! The Erotic Woman is saucy but intelligent sensual site for women, so why not check it out!