Who was driving and where were they headed?...

From today's TV3 news headlines e-mailout "Police Find 14 Sheep Crammed Into a Car" - as a writer for children I love this kind of headline. Of course, as an animal lover, my first thought was for the welfare of the poor creatures, but the second thought following swiftly after the first was, which sheep was driving, and where were they headed? A bar perhaps...? Okay maybe not a bar if its a story for children but this is a headline ripe with possibilities. Trouble with me lately is that story ideas are popping out like, well, popping corn. I've had three new novel ideas in the last week (one the result of deciding I rather liked the word Runny as a character's name). And like me, my ideas are annoyingly impatient. I have two other must-do projects on my plate at the moment and these ideas keep bouncing excitedly into my mind's eye. I love new ideas, I just wish they had better timing. I am at the hard part for both projects which renders me especially distractable. And being generally undisciplined just adds a degree of difficulty. I need to be locked in a cell, or become a hermit or take Holy Orders.....

And no matter how pressing my deadlines are, as expectations continue to be inversely proportional to reality I have been desperately craving distraction in the form of good-dumb-fun movies. I've recently seen Iron Man 2 and Prince of Persia and while neither are optimal examples of their genre or form I have thoroughly enjoyed them none-the-less. They are pure escapism with my favourite kind of leading guy (buff, handsome, witty and smart and not Tom Cruise) and those hours in the cinema have been most fortifying.

And now, courtesy of the miracles of modern technology, this week you can find me in several locations at once. I shall be, as always faithful friends, burbling on here at my very own blog while simultaneously guest blogging over at UK blog Tall Tales and Short Stories.

A scuba suit is not bullet proof....

Saw a bad-ass movie last night that I just loved. It had elements in it that I generally find a major turn off - lots of violence and a young person saying my least favourite word in the world - and yet Kick Ass was funny, moving, and thoughtful with great costumes and I would happily see it again. And again. Perhaps it was the irreverent anti-pc tone. Perhaps it was the acknowledgement that despite our best efforts we live in a scary, violent world but you can't stop fighting it and the things we truely cherish, like love and family, don't change. I especially loved the part with the bazooka and the clever things Hit Girl did with a length of string weighted with one of those ninja star things. I loved too that director Matthew Vaughan paid silent homage to his wife in one scene. And as with any good movie, there were lessons here about great writing - because this movie turned lots of conventions on their heads and was the better for it. Be daring when you write people! And character development was so skillfully done. I quickly came to care about the key characters and had to watch through my fingers when I thought bad things were about to happen. It had a comic book feel even telling part of the backstory with an illustrated comic book sequence but this fitted seamlessly with the whole vibe of the movie. The only bad thing about good movies is that they spoil you for the rest. Hoohah - I'm so getting this when it comes out on DVD.

And my own writing? I have been eschewing my writing for fun things like GST tax returns and sorting out other bits and pieces like book cover photos and skype addresses and invoices and orthodontic appointments and book blurbs. All necessary and important things. I am marinating the first chapter of my next work, as well as mentally massaging the last few chapters of my YA but there are few typed words to show for it. And for some reason at the moment I am feeling wanderlust - the urge to travel to somewhere distant for a small adventure - New York, Morocco, Spain, Egypt, Ireland. Its most unsettling and most unlikely to be realised unless I win lotto. So back to the writing. At least the new story is taking me to Poland and Russia so I guess I do get to travel after all.

Juicy link for today can be found here at the Tall Tales and Short Stories Blog, with a feature on new publishers Nosy Crow.

On the World Stage...

I am distracted. Yesterday I spent most of the day doing research for my next book. The material is fascinating and heart wrenching. I want to start writing but I am more nervous than usual about this project. The stakes are high and more than ever before I want to get this one right. I have personal reasons for feeling this way. I hope I can do it justice. It may be the most important book I ever write.


If that was not distracting enough, some time in the middle of the night tonite the ICU cheerleading competition will begin in Orlando, Florida. My eldest is competing as part of Team New Zealand. I find it difficult to watch my children compete at sports. The whole time my heart is in my mouth. My fingers, toes, and a few other things are crossed for a good performance. Good luck sweetie. Over the weekend she is also competing in the Allstar World Cheerleading comp in a co-ed senior team. Tomorrow my son plays soccer (last weekend he was captain of his team and they won their first game of the season) and sunday my other daughter has stage challenge practice. She has a lead role. I'm very proud of my three. They are an amazing bunch. Good luck to all of them.

Oh, and because I don't like to be distracted alone, here is today's juicy link. Read Maureen Crisps latest thought provoking post on ways authors can help themselves at her smart and well-informed blog Craic-er

Swimming through the troughs...

Ok, should I be worried I just bettered my score on Solitaire (3 card draw) to 19,000 points plus, with a time of 38 seconds. I think I should. Is there money in this like there is in poker - maybe I should change careers (or just hang my head in shame). I blame microsoft. I wonder if anyone has sued them over the time-wasting, distracting games they provide as part of their standard software. Yes I know i had to hunt the game down when we bought the new computer and loaded the latest software and yes I know I make a choice whenever I click on the games. It helps me think - like white noise - I tell myself. And look at my great score. Maybe its a good thing my writing deadlines are all still self imposed. Or maybe I'd play less and write more if my deadlines were more strict. We may never know. How often do writers wonder if they have peaked and may never write a decent thing ever again. I can't remember where I read it but i recently came across a comment responding to the theory that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become really proficient at something (writing, painting, golf, tennis etc..). The commentor suggested it wasn't so much that it took 10,000 hours practice but more likely that it was about hanging in there that long. 10,000 is alot of hours and most people would have dropped out because they decided it wasn't really for them, they were bored or found something else they would rather do. Of course all this means is that I can't blame anyone else if i drop out of this business. Yes, you've peaked if you then walk away and do something else. Only by hanging in there do we give ourselves the chance to climb the next peak or find that there is one even higher or better or on a completely different continent. Perhaps success in any business isn't measured by the number of peaks we reach but the fact that we survive through the troughs. I'd better go and write a few more words then I guess...

Need Chocolate STAT...

Nothing much is happening. I've read everyone else's blog and although a few made me laugh (especially US writer Maureen Johnson at www.maureenjohnson.blogspot.com ) there was nothing particularly relevant to me today or inspirational either. I have two sick children at home who aren't that sick and probably should have gone to school, no news about any of my manuscripts working their little butts off trying to get noticed and I am no longer needed for that local school writing workshop. Yesterday I wrote about a thousand words on my new project which is a lot for me. And they were pretty good words. Most of them i was very happy with. I did about the same the day before. Those were two good days. I felt pretty chipper yesterday afternoon. Of course i haven't written anything yet today and the chipperness is all gone. Need chocolate stat.

I think i'm up to about 12 and half thousand words now with My Sister's Shadow, but i'm at that point where I'm thinking OMG, I'm like a third of the way through and i've only got 12 and a half thousand words, I need like twenty thousand by now. And once i finish and tidy it up it'll get a little shorter too. So I'm doing the time honoured tradition of panicking about something that hasn't happened yet. I'd really like the novel to be over 50 thousand when its finished. I guess I'll just have to finish it so I know whether I have a problem or not. Thats at least another 24,000 words. Eeeek. There are no distractions now either ( apart from sick children and a scratchy flea ridden dog) from my writing. I've sent in my funding application, my books aren't out till september/october and I no longer have to write a workshop plan. I NEEED a distraction. Maybe a publisher accepting a manuscript, maybe a request for an author visit or something unexpected but extremely cool. See! I'm not after much really. Chocolate and distraction STAT.

I did a slightly crazy thing yesterday too and now i'm worried bout that as well. I bought me a almost new mobile phone over the internet. On Trade Me. I's paid me monies and now i'm hoping, fingers and toes crossed, that the phone turns up. I will cry if it doesn't as it was a thing of beauty at a sparkly, fantabulous price that will meet my every need. I'm hoping it has other hidden qualities too like the ability to make dinner and pour me a glass of wine at the end of a fretful day. Chocolate, distraction and phone STAT. I shall report back later on phone and distractions. You don't need an update on the chocolate, suffice to say I got some and ate it STAT.