Getting back into the swing.

We've had visitors for over a week and most of that time was spent playing tour guide. What a blast! I'm exhausted. I think we covered half of Singapore in about four days. We of course, went to China Town and Bugis Street for shopping. We had breakfast at the zoo. We ate out every night, went to Ski 360 cable ski park, visited the Merlion statue, Raffles Hotel. Actually, I think we did all that in three days. Now they're gone, off on their trip to Europe. The house is so quiet I can hear the dust mites breathing! LOL
I'm back to writing every day and the 50ksIn30days starts on Sunday so I need to get back into the swing of things before then. I'm planning to work on four novellas I've got in various stages of production. But as they'll be published under Rhian Cahill I probably shouldn't talk too much about them here. This split personality thing is confusing and tiring.

May the Word Gods smile upon you.

Rachel C

No turning back.

Rhian has now got a home on the world wide web!

www.rhiancahill.com

It's up and running and I'm pretty pleased with it. I built it. From scratch, well not quite, I used the templates but I did the rest. Head over and check it out, there's photos that I've taken over the last year living in the tropics and visiting exotic locations. Let me know what you think.

Rachel C

Rhian Cahill gets her own place.

Rhian Cahill now has a blog. I've got a bio and an excerpt page up and I've put the prologue of the ms that's on the editors desk for you all to have a look at. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the site and the excerpt.
www.rhiancahill.wordpress.com

Rachel C

We break your regular programming for some important information!

I've been quiet. Very quiet. I've had some exciting stuff going on that kept me busy and away from here.
I've had a full manuscript request!!!!
Yep, there's now a full sitting on an editors desk, well not yet, I'm about to send it. The request came through this morning and I'm just going over it one more time. I know, I know call me obsessive. I don't care!!!! I've had a full requested!!!!!
If you want the full story pop over to my wordpress pages to read it.
www.rachelcharlton.wordpress.com
I'll keep you posted on what's going on, but things are moving so fast I think my ass just overtook my belly!

Where are those topless table dancing tarts when you need them??

Rachel C

Book Cover Gods pay a visit to Devon.

The Gods that handle book covers are surely smiling on Devon. This is the book cover for Addicted. There's just one word; HOT! It fits the story perfectly and we're sooooo excited to have such good luck with it. (Yes I used the royal 'we', but hey, she's my CP and I've been with this book from the ground up) Still don't have a release date but she is on the coming soon page at The Wild Rose Press website. (link in sidebar) Can't wait for it to come out, especially now we have a cover.

I should be so lucky when my turn comes.

Rachel C

Had to come back and tell you Devon just got the book trailer that the talented Allie Boniface made for her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBnGrAK5T-s
It's really cool and fits so well with the story.

Blogging from Manila!

Here I am working hard. I did really well yesterday, got about 2,000 words done on one wip and read two books. The plane ride was just over three hours, a bit bumpy but I'm getting better at the air travel. Last two trips I haven't taken anything for the sickness and haven't been sick. Well I've felt sick but I haven't actually been sick. I have managed to get myself a very sore throat. It was a little bit before we left but I didn't think too much of it until I got up this morning and couldn't swallow my own spit. Umm... guess I'll be off to the doc's when we get back. I finally got Internet access, and no, I have nothing to do with the bodies behind the reception desk. I'm getting back to work now, gotta keep going while the flow is there.

The muse is gorging on all around her even if I'm not.

Rachel C

Going out of town.

I'm going out of town tomorrow. I'm tagging along on one of Hubby's business trips again. Last month Bangkok this month; Clark! Or Manila depending on who you're talking to. We're flying into Clark as that's where the UPS office is, it's all on the old US base. I'm looking forward to getting some great pix and exploring the area. I'm also looking forward to writing. Yep, that's what I'm doing. No Internet, no phone, no kids, no anything! Just writing. Oh and reading, I can't go anywhere with a book! So the iPAQ is coming and as usual has about ten books on it. I'll have to decide which one to read first. I'm also taking Mari's latest wip to go over so that when I'm back late Saturday night (my time) I can send it off to her. I'll probably start my query letter and synopsis for On A Wing And A Prayer. Probably. I'm dreading it but it must be done.
Off to pack my bag.

A passport full of stamps is a wonderful thing!

Rachel C

Taking the necessary steps.

Some things you need to do to further your writing career are easy and some are hard. For instance one thing a budding writer must decide is whether to go to the expense of having a website built before they're published. It can be a costly affair and time consuming as well. Me? I've got a file of photos, all taken by my family or me, that I'll be using when the time comes to build mine. Yes I have a domain name and you can even go there and you'll get a page that tells you where to find me at the moment. I've got a pretty good idea of what I want and I wish I could build it myself so I'd get exactly what I want. But the sad fact is I'm sooooo not computer friendly. I'd get exactly what I don't want if I tried to do it myself. So the decision to build before publication for has been put off and put off but now as I get closer I'm thinking it might be a good idea to get the ball rolling. It doesn't help when Devon gets to put her exciting news on her website that she's had since she made the decision to be a writer. And it really doesn't help when Mari sends out the exciting news that hers is finally up and running. So I'm starting this week. I'm putting it here so I'm accountable. But before we get to that let's get back to Mari's new site.

The link is in the sidebar but here it is as well; www.maricarr.com
Pop over there and have a look, it's so fresh looking, it's like looking at you favorite holiday pix. If you can leave her a message about what you thought. The best thing we get as writers is feedback. It's such a solitary life that we're not only thrilled with getting a message about how great you think we are but excited when it helps us make our writing or in this case, websites better.

Oh, and the verdict on On A Wing And A Prayer so far is favorable. I don't know whether to throw up or throw a party. (read have a drink)

Fear is only as big as we make it.

Rachel C

Not so scary.

The first time I sent any of my work out into the world was for a competition, it was a few years ago now, but I remember that experience well. I also remember how it made me feel and what it did for my writing. I got the results and looking at the score sheet I appeared to have done okay, first time out there and I was in the middle of all the entries. Some judges wrote comments and others didn't. One was brilliant and I ended up working with her quite a few years later, but the other one is the one that got me. Oh, she/he was a great judge. With red pen in hand the judge took to my ms with enthusiasm. Obviously on a roll or getting carried away (who knows), not one page was left unmarked. But it was the final comment, in red pen, big capital letters.
THIS IS PORN! SEND IT TO PENTHOUSE!
Well. What can I say? To say it stopped the writing cold is an understatement. It blew the whole idea up! It took me months, yes months, to even look at anything again. Never mind actually write anything. I finally got up the nerve to look at this particular entry and ALL the judges comments, and do you know what I found? It was ONE opinion. The other judges didn't feel the same way about the piece, so I really took a look at the red pen comments. Now I'm not sure, but it's quite possible that said judge was having a bad day, or was even a NUN. One of the complaints was that I'd described, in great detail, the feel of the hero's tongue as it dueled with the heroine's. Now forgive me if I've got this wrong, and Hubby I do apologise for our 20 years together if I'm am, but isn't that a kiss? I was sure it was a kiss when I wrote it.
My point to this post is that even though I know I don't write 'porn', what I write is erotic and some people may view it that way. I'll also say that I don't just write 'erotic', although a lot of what I write would fall into the hotter side of romance. The bad thing is, that even though I know there are people that like the genre I write in, I still have this big horrible spectre living in my head that screams every time I send something to my CP. And when I'm doing edit/polish of a wip I always try to tone down the sex scenes. (I know, someone should slap me upside the head.) When a scene flows for me it goes quicker than I can type or write long hand, (which explains the funny little language I have in all my long hand work), and I'm in the moment, I don't worry about toning it down.
Yesterday at 2am, at least I think it was yesterday, maybe it was Friday? Can't remember, direct result of little to no sleep, thank you Hubby. Anyway, the second draft of On A Wing And A Prayer took to it's wings and flew off to visit with Devon and Mari. Devon has had the privilege of reading some of this already. Chapters 1-4 I think, but now she has the whole thing. It's the first baby to go out whole. And there's that little voice screaming in the back of my head. Sigh!
I'm told by some great writing friends (yes they're published) that it doesn't change. With every wip the same fears grab hold and squeeze you tight. Well, I'm feeling a little chocked and would really like a little breathing room, just a smidge. It's not helping with the sleep deprivation. I'm thinking that writing the book is the easy bit. It's the edit/polish, sending it to CP, edit/polish again, and then submitting it that's hard. Really hard! But I can't not write so I guess I have to face the fear and move on. Or as the kids would say, build a bridge and get over it! (aren't they brilliant?)
So I built the bridge and I'm over it but I can't help but look back. It's the fear, I might have left it behind but it's still there, just over my shoulder, waiting for my steps to falter so it can catch up again.

No snappy little saying today, instead I'm going to give you the link to the blog post that inspired the sharing of my fears. NJ Walters blogged at the Samhain blog today about fear and how it drives us. http://samhainpublishing.com/blog/2008/05/03/fear
Go over and check out her brilliant thoughts. The woman is a great writer and I'm privileged to be able to spend some time with her online in one of my egroups. The link to her website is in the sidebar so after you've been and read her post go check her and her books out. I dare you to come away without buying one.

Rachel C

P.S. Aforementioned ms is Dark Heat. Which is getting the edit/polish treatment soon. I'm determined to get it published just so I can blow a raspberry at aforementioned judge.

Harsh working conditions.

Life's hard when you're forced to work under these conditions. This is my writing room, it's in our bedroom but I try not to think about having to share my space. The bookcase is overflowing as any good bookcase should be, the lounge is really comfy for lying back and reading, or editing. And view on a good day offers glimpses of Indonesia. The water between is the main 'road' for the ship in the area. And then of course there's the view of downstairs. As you can see my life isn't easy. LOL