Deadlines

What is it about deadlines that make me want to clean my house?? Devil in the Clouds is due to go to my editor on Friday. I'm doing a final read through before then and have found loads I want to change and correct. I'll be very busy for a few days.

After DITC is gone, I plan to dust off Allie's Return and finish the first draft! I'd like to have that completed before 1st November. I want November free for NaNoWriMo. I haven't a project in mind, but I'm sure I'll scare up something before then. Hopefully!!

Feeling a bit like Calvin today!

Has anyone a plan for NaNoWriMo yet?

Great Start

I was at my Weight Watchers meeting this morning and I am down 4lb. I'm delighted. It's a great start and I hope I'll be able to keep it up.

I didn't starve myself, nothing like that. I was just careful not to over-indulge and my portion sizes went down a bit too.

Currently: 10 stone 8 pound
Loss so far: 4lb
Goal: 10 stone for the moment.

It's my 32nd birthday next week so I may have a few pound on the week after. I'll try not to go too mad but we will be having a family meal in my favourite Italian restaurant on the Thursday and then, a night out on the tiles on the Saturday night. I'll have to be very good the rest of the time!

No other major news. Still working on DITC. I've decided to do up the house a little (along with the garden). I'm going for a Cath Kidston kind of style. I will post photos when it's all done. I have been buying bits and pieces for the last few weeks. Want to have it nice for Beth's birthday in September!

Weather is still really good but the blue skies are set to break today. No sign of the rain yet though :-)

Goals for May

It's May Day, the start of summer. Although, the weather has been a little better here, it is still not great. Very chilly but bright.

I'm doing some goals for May in the hope of actually achieving something by the end of the month. I've been drifting a lot lately and it's time to knuckle down.

May Goals:

1. Finish The Devil in the Clouds.

2. Get out on the road (waiting for provisional license).

3. Lose 7lb (about 3kg). I fell by the wayside during all the weddings, time to get back on track.

4. Clear garden. The front garden is almost done but a lot needs to be done on the back garden. I took 'before' pictures and want to do an 'unveil' here during the summer when all the flowers are in bloom.

5. Read The Quiet American by Graham Greene and The Famished Road by Ben Okri.

I think that's enough for now!

Hope your May Day is going good :-)

Blue Skies

Not sure what to write today. Haven't planned anything so will just wing it.

Outside, the skies are blue but it is still a little chilly. It's nice to see a bit of sun though, I might spend a bit of time in the garden later after I do a good bit on my MS. I'm finding it tough to finish. I don't know why exactly. I suppose it's to do with all the distractions lately, there has been so many! I was writing in my notebook mostly. Have to type it all up now but at least I'll catch mistakes easier.

I did a reading during the Dundalk Book Festival at the weekend. I really enjoyed doing it but the chapter I read had a mistake in it. So annoyed about that. I guess reading it a million times and sending it out to be edited still won't catch everything :-/

Doing a reading of Bleeker Avenue in The Panama Cafe, Dundalk

Last Tuesday, we got a dog. We are fostering her for three weeks before we can officially adopt her. Her name was Pep before she came to us, Beth has renamed her Pepperoni Pink Flower. She is a large Jack Russel Terrier and is so cute, she was even house trained!

She loves Beth and Beth loves her

It's been a bit of an adjustment but not completely different to how it was before. Just out in the park everyday, standing in the rain while she does her business, no major changes. She wants to sleep in Beth's bed every night but I'm not letting her. Would be afraid she'd scratch her by accident or Beth would wake her in the middle a bad dream and Pep would turn on her. 

A few little white fluffy clouds have appeared in the blue. Now, for a bit of writing...

There's great drying out

Finally, the sun has returned to Ireland. For months we had terrible weather but now it looks like Spring has finally sprung. It's wonderful and I'm in a better mood for it. Not that I was in a bad mood but a bit of sunshine always makes me feel good and I can put my washing outside on the line again.

I do love Winter though. The long nights, warm soups and, of course, Christmas. January, I can survive if it is cold and dull but it was starting to drag a bit.

Now is the time for planting seeds, time to have a clear out and time to move house. Yes, I am moving house. I had been thinking of it for a long while. I love my current house but the rent is steep. I never have any spare money. But that's all going to change in three weeks. I can't wait. My current house no longer feels like 'home'.

I moved in here just over three years ago when Beth was only four months old. She crawled, walked and said her first words in this house. I've loads of great memories from all the firsts, christening celebrations, birthday parties and this is where I finally settled down to do what I've always dreamed of doing, writing.

However, I'm not sad to leave. It just feels like a new beginning. Beth spent her baby/toddler years here but now she is a little girl and has different needs. I want to live somewhere that has more of a community to it. Where I am now, there are no front gardens, I barely know my neighbours and as Beth gets older there is no way I'd let her leave the house even if her friend just lived a few doors down. The cars race up and down this narrow road. Our new street has ramps to slow down cars, we have a front garden/driveway, people say 'hello' to each other when they pass you by! It is only a ten minute walk from where I currently live but feels so different.

The park near our new house.

In other news, I passed my driving theory test last week. Also, I didn't make it through the pitch round in the ABNA. No great loss. I'm still working on the new book. I hope to be finished mid-March. It's going well. A much bigger project than Bleeker Avenue.

Has Spring arrived in your part of the world?

Here we go again...

The ABNA contest opened this morning and my entry is in. This is my second year in a row entering and I've gone with the same novel. Since this time last year, Bleeker Avenue has been extensively edited, professionally and by my beta readers so hopefully it will do better.

Another item on my agenda today was to post off a short story to Take a Break's Fiction Feast. Done!

It's been a busy day because I also applied for funding for my writing from the Arts Council of Ireland. Fingers crossed for me! It would mean I wouldn't have to worry about bills while I finished Devil in the Clouds and I would be able to get it properly edited.

Fourth on my list was a new blog post. I had something else in mind for this but I'm going to save it till Wednesday (I'm still working on it).

Today's list

Lastly, I plan to do 1,000 words on my WIP. I've about 2.5 hours until Beth arrives home. I think I can manage it!

Check out my lovely new bookcase (Beth owns the bottom shelf)

 Did you enter the ABNA this year?

Chocolate Biscuit Cake

I said I'd share the recipe for the Chocolate Biscuit Cake I made for my birthday. It's a brilliant recipe with no baking involved. The cake itself has a gazillion calories so not recommended for those on a diet! I got the recipe off my friend Debs.

275g Butter
150ml Golden Syrup
225g Good Quality Chocolate (e.g. Cadburys)
400g Digestive Biscuits
400g Rich Tea Biscuits
1 Packet of Malteasers
Optional Extras: Raisins, Nuts, Marshmallows

1. Mash up the biscuits (the rich tea can be a bit tough so put them in a bag and bash them with cup).
2. Melt the chocolate, syrup and butter.
3. Mix everything together in a really big bowl.
4. Put in a grease lined tin, cool and stick in the fridge.

Voila. Can't get easier than that!

Still planning the Rainbow Cake for Beth's 3rd birthday and will have lots of photos of that! I'm going to do a princess theme. Lots of pink and sparkles for my little princess.

In 3 weeks Beth and I are jetting off to the south of Spain for our first ever foreign holiday. Can't wait!! We're both very excited :-)

In writing news, I'm still working on the Bleeker Avenue sequel, the new project and a collaboration of short stories with a writer friend.

Busy, busy!!

Writing, Querying and Green Fingers

First of all, happy July 4th to all you Americans out there. Hope you have a great day.

I sure hope your weather is good for today. Here in Ireland the summer hasn't started yet. Raining everyday for weeks! I did manage to get the grass cut in the back garden before the rain started again in the evening on Sunday. Bloody nettles were threatening to take over.

Thankfully, my attempts at growing my own are going well. The carrots and onions are growing nicely, the potatoes are looking good (above ground plants are anyway) and my tomatoes, well they don't look great but there is good news....

The first of the tomatoes has sprouted forth. I also discovered Instagram on this day too. I went round photographing everything in close up. This little green tomato is only slightly bigger than a cherry tomato at the moment.

I've taken a little break from writing the sequel to Bleeker Avenue. Rachael is just not ready to talk yet. Instead Katherine (aka Kate) has stepped out of my psyche and onto the page. She just got an interview for a job that is going to change her whole life!

Still querying agents and publishers for Bleeker Avenue. A few rejections so far but it's all par for the course.  I'm reading a lot of articles about the slush pile and agent blogs out there. One in particular I found very interesting It Came from the Slush Pile. Just stick to the submission guidelines. If your novel is good it won't need glitter and bells to find an agent/publisher.