Can I breathe now?

Whoa!
Where do I start with everything that's been going on here?
First I'll say guilty of doing no writing on the weekend. We had a couple of BBQ's with some Aussie's that live here in Singapore, one at lunch and one at dinner, on Saturday. My alcohol supply is now minus TWO bottles of champagne and that's all I'm going to say about that. As one would expect Sunday was a waste of a day. 100 words. sigh
I've been reading for the competition I'm judging plus I've done a review and edits on two others so that's kept me busy.
Then there was the shock arrival of two new members to our household. We've managed to find ourselves the new family of two 4 week old kittens that were dumped in the playground downstairs. Don't get me wrong, they're gorgeous and cute, and so much like having babies in the house. Feeding every three hours, crying at all hours, vet visits. I must say they're very impressive with their skills at toileting. Not one accident so far, both appear to be completely house trained. My girls have claimed them and their mothering skills have been brilliant, so other than when the kids are at school I'm just supervising.
Back to the writing. Not sure where I was last update but I've managed a bit and when I'm finished here I'll be getting back to it. I'm happy with my total for Sven so far and even more happy with the new story, Flash Point. I'd planned for it to be a short and around 10,000 words but judging be the first 2,245 it may prove a bit longer. On A Wing And A Prayer is still in the black moment which has given me a few notes of things that need changing when it comes time to edit. but I'm looking forward to it.
The new blog is great and I'd like to thank everyone for popping over there and for those who've commented I appreciate your support. I'll be blogging over there again later today, I want to get some writing done first.
I hope everyone else working with Sven has the Word God shinning on them.

Help others to achieve their dreams and you will achieve yours. - Les Brown.

Rachel C

Getting serious.

I've spent the last few days getting my wordpress blog up and running. I'm not leaving this one but I wanted a site where I could have a couple of pages to put up some excerpts and some more info on me and my writing. Now before you all rush over there and take a look let me say it's still in the setup stage. I have been brave though and put an excerpt on the A taste of what's coming page. Stop! Again, before you rush over there, if you're under 18 you can't go. Sorry but some of my writing would be considered inappropriate for you. so once you've all checked your driver licences to see if you're old enough the link is on the side bar but I'll put it here for easy access.
www.rachelcharlton.wordpress.com
Feel free to pop over there and have a look. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. I'd welcome any hints on making the site better.

Sven is going good. I'm up to 28,274 words for On a Wing and I've started the short story Flash Point, the excerpt on wordpress is from Flash Point. At this point my total for Sven is 7,355. I'm planning on doing some more after dinner tonight as Hubby is away in India and once the kids go to bed it's nice and quiet (except my music) for me to write.

People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of. - Beth Bingham

Rachel C

Sven update.

Okay, so I'm late blogging this. I got another 1,235 words done yesterday so my Sven total is 4,292. Not bad, could be better. Word count meter is updated as well and you know, I just can't help staring at it, sitting there telling me how close I am to finishing and getting to the edit/polish stage.
I'm extra busy, what with Sven, FAR reviews and the contest I'm judging and I'm feeling a little scattered this morning. I'm surfing the net instead of reading or writing and I need to go to the shop and I can't be bothered. The writing's going well so it's not that that has me all a flutter and the book I just read for the contest was great and not something I would normally pick up which is a bonus. So what could be my problem? I got the new camera I've been nagging about for years and I've been playing around with it and watching Sammi play with hers, the kids are all being good (touch wood) and the whether, though rainy is hot (nothing different there) and then it hit me. It's near the end. I'm about to say goodbye to two people I've slaved over and with for months. I'd forgotten what it felt like, the end. It's been so long since I actually finished the last ms. In fact last year I didn't actually finish any because of the move and then the edit/polish of Dark Heat (working title) and then I started On A Wing And A Prayer, so I've not finished anything in over a year. It's sad. But then it's uplifting too because they'll ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. But before that I have to accept them leaving me behind and move onto the next two that need my help getting to that sunset. They've already made an appearance, in fact they've been around since last year but I kept pushing them away trying to edit/polish Dark Heat and writing On A Wing. In the last few days they've been getting louder and the problem is I wanted to work on a different pair but as most writers know, Ms Muse has a mind of her own. I really need to get back to Dark Heat but it might have to wait because when I choose to listen to this new pair they're yelling at me not talking, so it's going to be hard to ignore them. Oh well, I'll get Trey and Lana settled in their happily ever after and get stuck into the next one.

Forsake all inhibitions. Pursue thy dreams! - Walt Whitman

Rachel C

More new toys.

This is my new toy. The bigger one on the left. The other belongs to my budding photographer daughter Sammi. Hubby took all the kids to the IT Show today. Corki got her new laptop, TimTam got a new 20inch LCD TV and we got cameras. We've been looking for a while and Sammi has saved her money and investing in her future. We finally have a career path. It's funny but the whole family seems to lean towards the artistic side of life. I'm looking forward to getting to know my new toy, we got the bigger lens to take far away shots as well as close ups.




















I've been busy and haven't done much writing but I did get 500 words done while waiting for Robbie to have his guitar lesson today. I wrote by hand and added it to the computer when I got home so really it's 1,000 words but I'm planning to write tomorrow so I'm not changing the word count meter or worrying about an official update. I'll do that tomorrow night or Monday morning.

You're never too old to get a new toy.

Rachel C

Going great.

Thought I'd pop in a quick word to say I've just closed the file and I've managed to add another 1,254 words, taking my total for Sven to 3,057. Not bad for three sessions of writing and lots of distractions. I'm updating the word count meter while I'm here and depending on how things go I might even get some more done later tonight.
Oh, I have to say a quick thank you to Shiloh Walker for popping in to leave a comment on my blog. She's one of the Sven sponsors, who will now have their own little link section on the sidebar of my blog. Pop over to some of their sites and check out what great authors they all are.

Let the words flow.

Rachel C

Sven update.

Sven started last Saturday and I managed just under 1,000 words then but nothing since. I even checked in earlier today thinking I wouldn't get anything done again today. I've had parent teacher interviews, school presentations and dentist appointments all week so far, not to mention the wedding we went to on the weekend. I was planning for things to get moving tomorrow so after getting back from the dentist this afternoon I sat down to read what I'd written on Saturday. Well not only did I read it and then had to get out some more. Yep, things took off running and I managed to get out over 800 words. That takes my total so far for Sven to 1,803 words. Considering that was in only two sessions I'm pretty pleased with the outcome, plus we've just hit the black moment at which point the happily ever after won't be far behind. Then I'll be able to get stuck into the other story that's been playing in my head. Hopefully I'll get to edit/polish On A Wing And A Prayer before the end of Sven plus get this little story out. I'll keep you posted.
Maybe I got a buzz from winning Karen Erickson's new book Fortune's Deception. I'd left a comment on her blog about the new book, which was released today from Samhain Publishing, and my name got pulled out of the virtual hat. Yay! Now I just have to find the time to read it. I've got a list of 12 books for a competition I'm judging plus 6 FAR books to review and then there's Sven. Lot's of things happen at the moment. It's going to be a big month.

Life is short, make every moment count.

Rachel C

Movie review.

I watched this the other morning with Lynn, she'd recently read the book and was keen to have a look at the movie. She's managed to get herself hooked on Nora and is at present reading Daring to Dream, the first in the Dream Trilogy. We grabbed a cuppa, popped the DVD into my new PC and sat back to watch.
I loved this book when I read it and I have to say I'm very pleased with the movie. The town of Angels Fall is gorgeous, and the mountain shots breathtaking. Except for the fact that there was snow everywhere and it looked damn cold (I hate the cold) I was ready to pack my bags and move on in. Brody's cabin is a must see and the diner was everything I expected it to be. They stayed true to the book, which is always a worry when someone decides to turn one into a movie, and I was pleased with the casting. Heather Locklear was good in the role of Reece and even though I felt she was just a little old for the part she did a brilliant job with the character. All the characters were as I remembered them and even though I knew what was coming it still managed to keep me hooked. Great job to all involved bringing this great book to life.
You can get the DVDs from Nora's website www.noraroberts.com and her books are in all good book stores.

Rachel C

The best of Plans.

I had great plans for Friday, review a couple of books get some writing done and generally clear my desk so I could enjoy my friend Lynn's visit. She's here all the way from Melbourne and we planned on shopping, shopping and more shopping. That was before Robbie. Robbie is the youngest of my kids and let me tell you he's what I refer to as high maintenance. This week he's got an ear infection and just to add some spice to the mix he thought tripping while running a relay race at school would be really cool, especially if he broke a bone when he fell. I won't bore you with too many details but the little shit now sits in the lounge room, arm in sling sporting a broken collar bone. Let me just add a little background. The week before his 5th birthday he broke his nose, the first season of football he broke his arm, the second season of football he broke his collar bone, five days into the broken collar bone he did a slide tackle playing soccer and ended up with seven stitches in his leg. His excuse for playing soccer was the doctor said no football, he didn't say anything about soccer. In between all this he's broken his nose another two times. Did I mention high maintenance?
Needless to say, no writing done. And I had to send one of the girls to the airport to pick Lynn up while I waited in the doctors office for xrays and results. We did manage to sneak out yesterday and get some shopping done. Retail therapy always helps. The next few days will be quiet while I struggle not the kill him. I guess having Lynn here as a distraction will help.

I love him, I love him, I love him.....

Rachel C

I've been TAGGED!!!

I've been tagged by a fellow aspiring author. Now I've got no real idea what the hell that means so I've done some investigating. So here's how I understand it, someone you know tags you by naming you on there blog, it comes in many shapes and forms and everyone seems to be doing it. You're supposed to link back to the person who tags you and link to the people you tag. Link?? What's that? (computer ineptness shining through) So I've done it the way I think it's supposed to be done. I'm also taking a lot of it from Tami directly, it is her fault after all.

I've been tagged by Tami Brothers ( http://www.tamibrothers.blogspot.com/ )

These are the 'rules' :-
1/ you link back to the person who tagged you. (done even if it isn't a proper link)
2/ post these rules on your blog. (almost done)
3/ share six unimportant things about yourself. (that'll be hard cause everything about me is important)
4/ tag six random people at the end of your entry. (random?)
5/ let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs. (I can do that)

Alright, six unimportant things about me :-
1/ I hate slimy things, and yes that includes cream, custard and the like.
2/ I don't own any make-up. And before you ask, no not even lip gloss.
3/ I can't spell and I suck at grammar. There's a dictionary in every room of our house and I hate not knowing how to spell a word or what it means.
4/ I married my husband of 20 years at 19 after dating for 3 months.
5/ I have 3 sugars in my tea. Hey, I've cut back! It used to be 4.
6/ I once jumped of the second floor balcony as a dare. I think I was about 9 at the time and I could out boy any boy in our neighbourhood.

How's that for unimportant? Well the sugar's important because if you get that wrong there'll be war, especially first thing in the morning. So now to the tagging others part. I have no idea how to do the link thing properly so I'll do it my way then I'm off to find out how to do it.

First, Nicole Austin because I just love her. She's a great cyber-buddy and a fantastic author.
http://www.nicoleaustin.wordpress.com/

Second, Amie Stuart because yet again, great cyber-buddy and fantastic author.
www.amiestuart.com/blog/

Third, Sandie Hudson because she's a fellow aspiring author and a great cyber-buddy.
http://www.sandiehudson.blogspot.com/

Forth, Jayde Marchelle another great fellow aspiring author and cyber-buddy.
http://www.jaydemarchelle.wordpress.com/

Fifth, Annmarie McKenna, brilliant author who once asked why nobody ever didn't know who she was, plus she's a great cyber-buddy as well. (Plus this might get her to update her blog.)
http://www.annmariemckenna.blogspot.com/

Sixth, but certainly not last, Eden Rivers, another brilliant author who's just started a new blog that's worth looking at.
http://www.edenrivers.blogspot.com/

Jump on over and check out these lovely ladies for yourself. Meanwhile, I'll be leaving little notes to let them know they've been tagged. Then I'm off to investigate linking.

Tag, you're it!

Rachel C

Birthday pressie.

Last night I got to use on of my birthday pressies. No, not one of Nora's movies, the Santana tickets! It was great, he was so active and sounded just as good live as on CD. The man is 60 and performs like a 20 year old. The rest of his band were older as well but they had no problem putting on a great show. They took to the stage at 8:30, no support act just straight into Santana, and by the time they did 2 encores they didn't leave it until after 11. If I'm half as active at his age I'll be happy. He played old on new, classic and some not so classic Santana and the demographic of the audience was astounding. From really old (I'm sure one man was in his 90's) to really young (the kid in front couldn't have been more than 12) and everything inbetween. And it didn't matter what age everyone got up and danced. I haven't been to a concert since I saw Nickelback in Australia nearly 2 years ago. Although, I did see that Maroon 5 are here in March. It's just a shame I don't work for Ticketek anymore and can get freebies or really good seats. Still, even though our seats were on the cheaper side we had a great view and could see everything clearly, in fact we were so close I couldn't see how the higher priced tickets would have been any better.
After such a great night it's hard to get back into the work.

Life. Love it! Live it!

Rachel.C