The summit of Mount To Do

I have an enormous amount of jobs to do today! A veritable mountain of them, and if this peak was the list, it only represents the summit... there's a lot of crap to be dealt with in the foothills too...

I've got emails to send, quite important ones too. I've got parcels to wrap up ie. returning a hat I bought for which my head is too big [no jokes!]. I've got to ring up my bank about some tedious stuff - it's good that they have security measures in place, but it makes for a time sink for us law abiding citizens, honestly! I've got a story I ought to be getting on with, due on the 21st. I've got a new book to get stuck into!!!! I'd love to write some more proposals and outlines. I've web stuff to do, invoices to send. Emails to chase up that probably never arrived because my stupid crapacious ISP [which I will be dumping after RWA, I think] never sent them or got them lost because their anti spam measures seem to allow spam through, whilst blocking bona fide mail...

And that's just a fraction of it... and I'm still sitting here, dawdling over my breakfast and not yet dressed... sigh...

Here's Johnny!

If you've been over to my buddy Saskia Walker's blog today, you'll have read about her reaction to the tee shirt I wore yesterday for our authors' lunch... a rather nifty number, tributing a certain Mr Depp...

So, I thought that you might like to see it!

Of course I'm not quite as svelte as the young lady in this picture, but you get the general idea. And the logo itself is pretty apt too, as I have a tendency to blub at the slightest thing, so even if I'm not a girl, and haven't been for a long, long time, I'm certainly one of the world's natural cry babies!

During our lunch, Saskia gave me a signed copy of her new release, RECKLESS. Now I've already read some excerpts and tasters of this sumptuous book, so I've been dying to get my mitts on a copy of it! Was so desperate that I started reading on the way home on the bus... nearly missed my stop too, because I was so absorbed in the hot opening scene between heroine Katrina and suave Spanish stud, Sergio. Awesome stuff! And the fantastic writing is complimented by a wonderful, evocative cover too... take a look, at Saskia's blog.

Daily Tweetage

• 23:23 Daily Tweetage: 23:23 Daily Tweetage: 23:54 Daily Tweetage: 00:40 Daily Tweetage: 07:24 Oh dear, I'.. tinyurl.com/6foo5o
• 15:37 Just back from fab lunch with Saskia Walker! Planning for RWA and celebrating her Spice sale. Had a wonderful time, as ever. She's a doll!
• 21:52 Cata Fabulous... and a jolly good day!: Visit CataRomance Sensual today and read an interview with .. tinyurl.com/5hmmxw

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Cata Fabulous... and a jolly good day!

Visit CataRomance Sensual today and read an interview with me! :)

And there's also a lovely review of MAGIC AND DESIRE - containing my story ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT...

Have had a lovely day... mainly due to stepping out to lunch with my wonderful writing buddy, Saskia Walker! Lots of lovely chat, and planning for RWA, and generally having a laugh... I treasure these lunches, and I can't wait to travel to America with Saskia and Madelynne. It's going to be a hoot! :)

Daily Tweetage

• 23:23 Daily Tweetage: 23:54 Daily Tweetage: 00:40 Daily Tweetage: 07:24 Oh dear, I'm off to the dentist t.. tinyurl.com/5qabkq
• 08:52 Gonna send off a short story today! Have a good thought, folks... also for another story out with the same editor. Been waiting a while...
• 08:52 Stories...: Spent most of yesterday in my normal pursuit of mildly fretting about a variety of topi.. tinyurl.com/65shnj
• 10:42 Wahey, have started my 'burlesque' story and done 600 words. Am quite liking it too. :)
• 15:21 1K done on the burlesque story, and still liking it!
• 22:06 Just ordered some new tee shirts for RWA! Went a bit mad...

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Stories...

Spent most of yesterday in my normal pursuit of mildly fretting about a variety of topics, but in between that, I edited three stories I've had sitting on my hard drive for a few weeks or so. They weren't doing anything just mouldering there, so it was time to give them their final spruce up before sending them off to editors.

As usual, I'd convinced myself they were pretty ropey. I always do that. Despite the fact that I've been published for a fair few years now, I'm always convinced that most of that was by mistake, and I have no real talent. I think a lot of writers feel that way though, so I'm used to that. However, short stories require a special knack, and even though I used to write loads and loads of them, I've found them harder to do in recent years.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by all three of these shorts. They weren't too bad! It was like reading something written by somebody else. The readability of them didn't seem to connect in any way with the uphill struggle of writing them. Weird, that...

Sent them to my CP, and she really liked the first one, a frisky little yarn on the theme of 'liaisons', so that should be on its merry way to the editor some time today... and then it's fingers crossed for acceptance. I've got another with the same ed. at the moment, so keep 'em crossed for that too! :)

Daily Tweetage

• 23:54 Daily Tweetage: 00:40 Daily Tweetage: 07:24 Oh dear, I'm off to the dentist today. I'm very scared... tinyurl.com/4v3os8
• 12:49 Feeling a bit weary and uninspired today... but must not give in to it!
• 16:06 Have just edited 3 of my stories. I thought they were crap, but actually they seem quite okay looking at them again! :)

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Daily Tweetage

• 07:24 Oh dear, I'm off to the dentist today. I'm very scared. First fillings in 20 years... :(
• 11:09 Wahey, no drilling involved at the dentist. Didn't hurt a bit, didn't take long, and didn't even cost all that much! Colour me relieved! :)
• 20:56 Pearlies: These beautiful pearly whites aren't mine, alas, but am feeling pretty cheery on the dent.. tinyurl.com/42xmez

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Pearlies

These beautiful pearly whites aren't mine, alas, but am feeling pretty cheery on the dental front today. A visit to the dentists went by without drilling or pain, which was a great relief to me, not having had a filling for probably about 20 years. The experience was so pleasant in fact, that I kept having to remind myself to keep my mouth sufficiently wide open to allow the dentist to work, because I was drifting off in the chair, thinking of ideas for books and stories and characters! LOL

In other news, I've spent the afternoon bouncing ideas of a friend in pursuit of something fairly important to me. And it's been productive. Even if only in the sense that I've done something 'active' rather than just being passive on a certain issue I've been passive - and angsty - too long over.

Daily Tweetage

• 23:23 Daily Tweetage: 23:22 Daily Tweetage: 23:22 Daily Tweetage: 23:51 Daily Tweetage: 00:21 Daily Tweet.. tinyurl.com/53nqle
• 12:07 Have just spent hours, searching for an important paper document in piles and piles of junk. The good news is - I found it! Result!!!!!
• 20:22 Watching the Euro Championship football... Spain are the better team, and winning, but I still fancy Michael Ballack of Germany!

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Sorting out Sunday again....

and it needs it!

As you'll have seen from my tweet, I've been searching and sorting amongst the morass of disorganised paper and assorted crap that constitutes my filing system. There was an important document I wanted to consult, and when I went to the filing cabinet that I barely use at all, and looked in the relevant section... needless to say said document wasn't there, because I took it out a couple of months ago, when I thought I had need of it then. And yeah, I didn't file it away again... that would have been far too easy!

But the good news is that I've found it, and marked it and sort of filed it so I won't lose it again. But I really need to slowly, perhaps, bring order to the chaos. I can't go on having to have these frantic, angst-ridden and emotionally draining searches for things. I haven't the time. But, I need to invest time in getting things sorted first, even if only gradually.

Actually, I need a secretary, or a PA, or even a wife to sort my life out for me. But wait... I'm a wife myself. Mmmm.... something wrong there. LOL

Daily Tweetage

• 23:22 Daily Tweetage: 23:22 Daily Tweetage: 23:51 Daily Tweetage: 00:21 Daily Tweetage: 20:08 Been out to.. tinyurl.com/3jxx6x
• 08:53 Who is this....: ... crazy broad with a nightmare clothes sense and a different kind of mad hair? A.. tinyurl.com/6zvkrm
• 16:21 Wahey... smiley Alvaro won...: the 250s, at Assen! Sadly, Valentino fell off at the first corner .. tinyurl.com/5vx2uo

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