March first 2010

Yes that's right, March 1st.

And today (this month) I am in The Eerie Digest.

I insist you all pop over and have a read - it's an awesome digest!

I hate when I don't quite know what it is...

Howdy!

I have a few days up my sleeve - well arm really -no sleeves, it's summertime. So anyway - I have a few days. It's rare, and I was quite excited. Crikey, I thought, I can catch up on some reading. (almost finished Cold Zero by Christopher Whitcomb, and I'll be looking for White once I'm done!)

Exciting prospect - reading without guilt.

Then it happened, I heard something.
Something small and yet annoyingly persistent.
Ellie talking.

It took all yesterday before the words took shape and I knew, this was something.

It truly is something.

This something seems to fit between Exacabyte and Satellite.

Now I need a suitably computer geeky term - oh - how about Exhibyte? That's pretty crafty huh?

ha ha ha, sometimes writing a blog is all it takes.

Okay so - looks like there is a another story to be told. I shall now get on with it.

Oh and weekend reading?

killerbyte and terrorbyte (all buy links are available - just pop through the links)

Love you long time... mean it.

This really could be fun.

Okay so it's early in the school year. It has almost been a month since school went back. Squealer is having a marvelous time so far.
So much so that her very nice teacher hasn't seen hide nor hair of any Aspergers symptoms. She's out the door with a smile on her face at 8:30 every morning, and out the school door at 3pm - smiling.
She's taking part in the class. Raising her hand. Answering questions. Speaking in front of the class -regularly -her choice. Her written and oral language are both very strong, maths still sucks but it's improving.
She has friends.

It's almost as if this is a different kid.

So what's happened?

She has a teacher she trusts at a school she trusts. From day one she was taken care of and felt safe. In stark contrast to her last school. Where she was tormented from day one by a bully of a teacher. (Some of you will recall my long drawn out horror posts trying to figure out what possessed some of those teachers to be so dreadful.).

Squealer's new teacher is awesome.

This is new too  -she's telling people I'm a writer. Used to be she wouldn't talk about me, because people would ask questions and she didn't want to answer them.
NOW - she's asked her teacher for permission to make me her school project. Squealer and two friends are studying me. (I'll stop laughing soon)
The assignment was to pick a leader.

What really tickles me is that they'd narrowed the list down to: me, Helen Clark, Kate Shepherd, Margaret Mahy and John Key.

Sorry John better luck next time! :-)

Hey, it's Ellie!!

Hey guys,

It’s Ellie here.

While Cat finishes reading through Exacabyte I shall provide you with my favorite links to various things. Because it's fun to do.

First up is the main link to Cat's website. There is a lot to browse on this first page.

Main link

Seriously, everything flows from here. You can scroll down to find some of her published short stories, you can click links to view and/or download the first chapters of KILLERBYTE and TERRORBYTE. You can access the pages on the right side of the screen and discover all manner of things.

I do believe this website will keep a person busy and entertained for a few days at least! 

There are videos to watch, stories to read, stories that Cat's written especially to be downloaded and shared, there are even crosswords. 

She has interviews, guest posts, articles, reviews, Works in Progress, poetry. 

Something for everyone.

My next favorite page is this one KILLERBYTE. 

I love the book trailer! 

Then it's TERRORBYTE. 

An awesome book!! 

Just go explore and let me know how you get on! (I don't think anyone will get lost.)

They made it possible

They made it possible

Ah the things you can accomplish before breakfast and before migraine meds kick in!

No doubt this won't be as clever as I think but right now, it's really amused me!

Might make another one later - now that I know how. (Almost posted this on Hagelrat's blog... nearly didn't see the tiny box on the upper right that said Unbound!!

Have a nice day.

Cat x

Exacabyte - almost done, wanting it gone!

The last two months have been an adventure in crazy. Revising the third Conway novel has been fun, torturous, insane, and hilarious. Today the entire experience hovers between exhaustion and the desire to get it done.
I want it gone.

I know I have a little more work to do before I can send it off to Sara for a read through, and will have more once it comes back before I can send it to my publishers. The desire to get it finished is overwhelming and I now have to listen to my inner drill instructor even more closely. Without him I'd go with 'good enough' and scrimp on those important details, or gloss over scenes that really require fleshing out, because I want it gone.

There have been times over the last week that I've looked at the changes I've made in the document and wondered why I went with such a complicated damn plot. Then I remembered it wasn't me, it was Ellie and it was the case. It's just how it happened. For all that, and all the writing and the re-writing I still wasn't prepared for the discovery I made yesterday. Once I'd uncovered the new twist, everything made a lot more sense.

But I still want it gone.

The other thing that's been niggling away at me is TV/film rights and how one goes about selling a book to well, Hollywood... I suppose.
I ran a query by my trusty friend Graeme Johns (Yes I know he's an Australian, but he's risen above it and is a hell of a nice guy.) he agreed I'd covered everything and commented that my plot is almost interesting enough to sell itself. (We're talking killerbyte here)
So really - the next step would be to hunt out an agent who reps to the film/TV industry. I haven't quite made that step yet -because I don't really know where to start!! (That's not like me - maybe this needs some more thinking time?)
I'm open to suggestions here. Go ahead add your two cents worth. (actually should be ten cents, there is no such thing as a one, two or five cent piece here, and hasn't been for a long time.)

On that note - I'm now going to get back to work.
Hope you all have a fab Thursday... it's humid and grey here, most unpleasant!

today I am...

Well, I'm fabulous as usual... but I am also over at Un:bound for a touch of 'Writers reading' So if you've ever wanted to wander through my bookcases now is your chance. Go on, satisfy your inner nosy neighbor.

This week has been rather odd really. I haven't been able to concentrate on writing as much as I'd like, possibly because I'm not done with the reading yet. That I haven't finished the reading is most peculiar. Guess it points to a bit of fragmentation. Discombobulation even.

Just writing this blog has found me distracted already! Yep -I wandered off to read the newspaper online and forgot what I was doing.

It's Friday today - the week seems to be entirely too short. Maybe I missed some of it.

I've been thinking about what I want to achieve this year. Early last year my goal was to find an agent or a publisher or both. We can check that off the list.
I have an awesome publisher.
While we were going through the editing process for killerbyte I learned how to create a book trailer for killerbyte.
Then the joy of killerbyte being released.
A while after that I submitted my next book to my publishers. While the editing process got under way I started work on the book trailer for terrorbyte.
And then the release of  terrorbyte became my focus.
I wrote another book in this series. (Satellite/Pedabyte)
So that 2009 in a nut shell.

So it's 2010: Now what?
I want to get Exacabyte onto my publishers desk soonish. (that's book 3 folks)
Cross everything that my publishers love it!!
All going well  ^^- make the trailer. (which is going to be a ton of fun)
To have killerbyte (and terrorbyte) released as paperbacks.
Find a way to make NZ wake up!
Ultimately I'd like to see killerbyte as either a TV series or movie. - as yet I have no idea how to go about that. I suspect I may need an agent after all.

Between writing the last sentence and now - I've wandered off and found out more about the film/TV process. Well, that's a start!

So what goals do you have?

St.Johns

On Monday afternoon I went and hung out with the dead folk in St John's church yard. I find it peaceful, despite the main road the runs right past it.

This time I had my camera in my bag - so this is the view from where I sat among the graves on a bench seat. I go there while Breezy is at kindy and read or write. Sometimes I just sit and listen.

 

View of front door -and the angel that Breezy used to stop to talk to everyday when she was smaller.
Moonshine Road entrance.

Looking back toward Fergusson Drive.

There's cool, and then there's the ultimate in cool.

This has been brewing all all weekend - I've sat down a few times and written a couple of lines only to abandon the blog for something else. (writing, reading, making dinner, drinking really really good red wine... pretty much anything really - but don't feel bad, it's not you - it's me.)

I did manage to stop by Tom Schreck's blog earlier today and discovered he was talking about Steve McQueen... now Steve was all kinds of cool. I loved Steve McQueen - had posters and everything.
So anyway Tom was talking about The Great Escape - which just so happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time.

Which got me to thinking about a scene in terrorbyte - and how while I was writing it Ellie fell into something that she likened to a scene from Stalag 17. I preferred The Great Escape but she insisted on William Holden and Stalag 17 - guess she knew what she was doing. After all, it's her story. (But I would've gone with The Great Escape or even good old Hogan's Heroes.)
[Recent times cool for me is Patrick Swayze and Sam Elliot in Road House. I love that movie!]

Then, my mind wandered to what I'm working on now - and a new character I rather like, who himself is all kinds of cool. So I thought about that for a bit ... and started to wonder where my interpretation of cool comes from.

Obviously I've had it a long time. It grew with me.

I was one of those girls that never really liked girly books, and I wasn't too fond of dolls really. I had an Action Man and a GI Joe. (Guess that says something right there huh?). Of course I had baby dolls and so forth as a small child and I liked them just fine - and books about girls and horses and such.
But the thrills came from Commando comics.
I never really read superman or those type comics - just the war ones, Commando and Battle. Commando being my preferred comic. Had to work quite hard to convince my brother they were the ones he wanted...so I could get my mitts on them. If I wasn't reading (boys books as well as comics) I was watching old war movies. Or running around in the bush with a pearl handled pocket knife in my pocket, making bow and arrows. (Cos that's how it was when I was a kid)

But really - I think my version of cool - comes from my father and my grandfather. Very cool men indeed. It's what I grew up with. Men who took charge, stood their ground, who could be relied upon in a crisis, made smart choices, could fix anything, and do it all with a wry grin.

Yup, I think that's where it comes from.

Who epitomizes cool for you?

Now to go make Rice Bubble cakes for the Boy Wonder's girlfriend. :-) Cos he just sent a text asking if I would... :-)

Wanna know a secret?  The Boy Wonder - is all kinds of cool too.

All I want is everything

Howdy folks, happy Friday to you!

Feels like I've been away but I haven't. Several times over the last few days I've tried to write a blog. It didn't happen. Life is like that.

This morning - I'm dead tired.

I've spent the last few days in Ellie's world. It's hectic there. (Not to mention screwy at times) There's this thread that's been driving me insane. I couldn't seem to follow. Turns out I'm too close to it. Then another victim showed up and tossed a huge spanner in the works - because I dunno where the hell she came from!
Exacabyte seems an apt name, it really does. And just when I thought I'd figured something out - another curve ball. Which is kinda amusing really, as I know how this ends -this is just a revision - or was just a revision.
Who knew I'd find another victim hidden within the pages?

So anyway, how is everyone? Tell me what you've been up to this first week of February. Amazing isn't it? Feb already.

School started back here. Yay and yet not. Squealer is at Intermediate school - has a uniform for the first time, and also has badly sunburnt legs because of it. *Sigh*. She's never been to school in anything but long pants - cos she's so fair she's almost translucent... of course the sunburn is my fault because I never thought about her legs being exposed in the looong shorts that are part of the uniform.
Despite loving her new school and teacher and having her best friend in her class - she's back to her old 'not getting ready' self. It's now become apparent that the 'toilet timing technique' we're using is working - but if I'm engrossed in MY WORK at night and forget to turn the timer on, or don't hear it - she will not go to the toilet. She will however stay where she is and, well, it's nasty. But only at night - at school she's fine. This is getting more bizarre.

The Boy Wonder doesn't start University until March. So he's still home which is good for Breezy -cos she's quite lonely now school is back. Jobaby left on Wednesday for Christchurch and is at Design school.

I now have to go and chase Squealer - she's supposed to be out of the shower and ready for school by now. Bet ya she comes down here without cleaning her teeth first. Because she has visual aids - but I didn't tell her to go and get them and follow them.
Some days thinking for her is just too hard - days when I've been awake all night having to think for me. :-)