Zero Dark Thirty

Good morning!

Or happy middle of the night...

Seems that sleep has failed me tonight. More than likely because I worked until about twenty past ten tonight and my brain was so fired it is having trouble shutting down.
Could also be that flipping full moon! (You know what cat's get like on a full moon.)
So anyway, it's the wee small hours - zero dark thirty springs to mind - and I'm back here in front of my PC. Bathed in the glow of my desk lamp, and wondering if I should read through EXACABYTE now, while I have all this awake time and peace.
(I wonder if Ellie's insomnia rubbed off on me...)

Okay I just plugged my head phones in, it's not going to be quiet for long. I need to convert some files for the iPod whatsit before we go away on Friday - me and Breezy without music for five days is NOT a good thing.

I'm drinking hot chocolate and listening to Modern West. It could be worse! :-)

I much happier with the 3rd book now. It really bugged me this one. I didn't know it would be so hard to pull it together without Mac. (The plot doesn't depend upon him, obviously.) My novels are about the characters as much as they are about the plot and Ellie was all over the place like a mad womans knitting for a while there!
Feels like I have it now.
A couple of likely heroes turned up.
Delta has a new team member and life is set to get even more interesting for Ellie.

Been a super productive week.

Still haven't finished the Conway Easter story. But I doubt anyone will mind (or possibly notice) if that doesn't go up until late next week.

Right I'm reading... have a good day!


website
(links to iTunes available from my website)

Amazon

Mobipocket - killerbyte
Mobipocket - terrorbyte

No word yet on paperback, but should be soon!


Love you long time xx

Everything I do...

Amazing isn't it? Two blogs in one day!! Don't get used to it - tonight I watched one of my favorite movies of all time. Robin Hood Prince of thieves.
Not only is it one of my favorite movies, but as a child it was my favorite story. (that, Ivanhoe, and also The Three Musketeers.)

But the only movie version of Robin Hood I like, or feel comes close to showing Robin Hood as I've always seen him is Prince of thieves. Kevin Costner makes an awesome hero.
(I can hear Chrissy groaning already but I choose to ignore it as this is about my idea of a hero.)

Watching Costner as Robin of Locksley inspires me to write. It's like going back to the well.

I'm just going to toss this out there - if you haven't read it yet, I'm really really sorry but this is about writing a good hero not about giving away spoilers. So I beg forgiveness and carry on...
When Mac died he left an ENORMOUS gap. Let's face it Ellie is no slouch and men are interested in her. She is however picky. She also has a formidable team - who are picky. I've discovered there is no shortage of heroes coming forward. She's discovered no one measures up any more and Kevin Costner isn't about to ride in and sweep her off her feet. (For that matter, Steven Seagal isn't about to stride in and snap the limbs of anyone who dares mess with her.)
Her safe place fell apart and life will never be like it was.

Something else has changed and I don't think I can tell you exactly what it is.
Now this song - this song reminds me of Mac and Ellie, and life as it was. He was the one, he pulled her from the fire.
I just don't know that anyone else has that kind of strength.

The little things that make me smile

So I'm hooked on the globe at the bottom of my blog -  I love seeing where people come from and it tickles me that they drop by my blog. (So hello!! That's me waving from down the bottom of the world.)

When I came in a few minutes ago I noticed someone from Trenton New Jersey was visiting. Absolutely made my day. (Of course Stephanie Plum lives in Trenton -or she would if she were real and not a character dreamed up by Janet Evanovich.) Which of course means it can't be Morelli or Ranger either but hell, a girl can dream.

Eric text me today (not an uncommon occurrence) because he was in the city and decided to go to Borders and ask if they had KILLERBYTE yet. Which they don't because it's not been released in paperback yet. But it was a fun exercise.

So far this weekend - I've done very little writing. I did tweak a few conversations in EXACABYTE but that was about all. I intend to do some more tonight.

Been shopping.

That was pure joy.

Have Robin Hood Prince of Thieves on DVD now... so I'll be watching that later and got Wizard of Oz for Breezy to watch. I suspect she'll love it and require ruby slippers!!
Now to go make coffee for Rose and Migs.

Have a good Saturday folks.

Oddly quiet here...perhaps I should investigate?

Maybe I should but I'm going to take advantage of the uncharacteristic quiet and blog.

Today I discovered that Exacabyte has thirty-nine chapters. Seems excessive, I may chop one or two out - if I can. Suspect I can't though, maybe I can drastically reduce a few and lump them together? I also discovered it takes sixteen days from the beginning of the story until Ellie closes the case. (not to read obviously - but for Ellie to put all the pieces together and well, save the world.)
I'm thinking this book is living up to it's name. I was chopping great swathes from the ms all last week and re-writing - now the word count is 5k higher than before I started chopping!!

What else did I learn today... that Breezy is wise beyond her four years. Someone was particularly nasty on Facebook this morning. I commented aloud about the meanness and Breezy piped up and said, "Don't be their friend. They don't deserve to know you anyway." She's right. People have no business judging others or throwing stones especially when they live in a glass house. (Last time I checked NO ONE was perfect.)
Imagine my annoyance when I discovered I couldn't delete the stupid person, because they weren't a friend to start with... then I started thinking about a really cool story idea.
About deleting people off a friends list and having them disappear in real life... I've started making notes so mitts off my idea!!
Don't fuck with me or I'll delete you!

On child rearing I have this to say - children need to learn coping skills for life. You don't always win. You don't always get your own way. People aren't perfect. It's okay to get mad, sad, happy, crazy, have a meltdown, cry, laugh, love etc - because that's how we learn to cope with our emotions.
If you keep a child in a calm bubble life is going to come as one hell of a shock.
Kids do stupid unthinking things, that's why they are kids. Time out does work, but you have to be consistent about it. Children need to breath, so give them room to do so. It's okay to be a parent and say NO. It's also okay to make kids wait for you to finish what you are doing. (You're a parent not a slave.) Most of all, there is life beyond the children. Embrace it, because you can't take care of others if you don't look after yourself. And this is a biggie -it's not selfish to do things you enjoy or carve out a career. In fact I think it's good for kids to see parents following dreams, doing what they love, and it's good for them to witness the good times and struggles along the way. It teaches them perseverance and that not everything is instant.

*Steps off soap box*

As you were...

Love you long time... mean it. xx

Don't ya hate when...

You think about writing a blog - open blogger then remember something you wanted to see on YouTube - then forget completely what you were doing to start with? Cos bloody hell, I do!

(Yes that means I opened blogger then got sucked into the world that it YouTube and only just found my way back here -quite some time has lapsed... )

Okay so it's Sunday evening. This weekend has been rather light writing wise, in that I haven't really done any to speak of. Was actually thinking of re-writing my synopsis to reflect the big changes I made last week to Exacabyte, but I really truly dislike synopses so I'll be putting that off as long as possible.

I got to thinking about this story and the song Ellie hears in her head right before she meets a kid in the beginning -


Yeah that's the song.

Tomorrow I want to get this revised version on Exacabyte finished - so you won't be seeing me here until Monday afternoon!
Have a good Monday - or Sunday if that's where you are headed.

xx

Oh exciting times!

Okay so maybe I've eaten too many pretzels and the salt is effecting my brain (you know the way sea water makes you nuts) but had a totally exciting moment this afternoon.

Ya see... I went over to check Amazon because I have some shorts, and a collection of shorts as well as both novels on Kindle over there. And - this is where it gets exciting, so prepare yourself.... I sold a short story!!!
Yes  I did!
And I'm very excited about it! (Can you tell?)

I'll try and calm down soon, but quite frankly this is exciting stuff. It means someone found my stories... and if one person did others will too!!
Snowball effect could start at any moment...

Now I need to go calm down long enough to watch NCIS.

So to whomever bought my story -thank you and I really hope you enjoy Mac's Valentine story. :-)

xx

It's enough to drive a person crazy!

It's 10:15 am - I was sitting here working in SILENCE. What the hell is that all about? I mean seriously, it's nuts!

I have now remedied the situation - apparently I don't want to hear Bon Jovi. Obviously I have slipped into some kind of alternate universe where Bon Jovi isn't my work music. So I'm listening to Johnny Cash, Elvis, Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones, Louis Armstrong, Aerosmith, The Eagles and Smokie. I'm not sure what this means for Ellie.
Guess we'll find out.

I'm about forty pages off finishing this re-write and quite enjoying it. There's a twist I didn't expect and I'm not entirely sure how Ellie will handle it. (I suspect the Office of Professional Responsibility will be conducting an investigation.) Right now she's talking to the dead and about to meet with a judge, yes her life could get weirder!

Might take a break this afternoon.
Am considering taking Miss Breezy to town after kindy. She always likes going out.

It's actually quite cold cold out today. Had to hurry back for coats this morning.

Sunday afternoon, cupcakes, and turtles

It is Sunday afternoon - one of those lovely almost autumn afternoons. Not as hot as it has been, clear blue skies, and a gentle breeze. There is a stillness in the air despite the slight breeze and it's quiet. There is a hint of earthquake weather to the day. (of course there is no such thing as earthquake weather... but we know what we mean.)

Breezy and I made cupcakes this afternoon - both lemon and orange. They're now iced and decorated - and tested. We declare them delicious!

Yesterday I made cheeseburger turtles for dinner - unlike the turtle recipe I found that really is not a recipe at all - I made mine tasty, adding diced onion, sage, breadcrumbs, plenty of salt and pepper. The result - a filling and truly yummy creation, that looked kinda like a cooked turtle with a hint of roadkill. Probably a good thing Squealer wasn't here for dinner... I suspect this would've caused one helluva meltdown!!

Not bad for a first attempt. The Boy Wonder and husband were impressed.

As for the rest of the weekend... it's been one of research. Having to watch excerpts from Moonlighting... as you can imagine it's been hell. :-)  All that Bruce Willis... it's not easy you know, watching all that and calling it research.

Other stuff... the re-writing of Exacabyte is going well. Wasn't so much a re-writing as a putting back of a lot of removed scenes and a ramping up of the stakes. It's fun but slow going.  We're getting there.

Goodness there seems to be some whining going on behind me. (and not the sort that comes from a bottle with a pretty label)

Oh yeah - loser neighbor has a loser friend and their new past-time is watching me every time I go out into the backyard. Loser neighbor was supposedly moving to Taranaki this weekend -seems that hasn't happened. AGAIN. We're looking at putting up trellis on top of the fence to block his view.. .think I'll grow Bougainvilla over the trellis. Have old-fashioned VERY thorny roses all along the six foot back fence.

Y'all have fun.
I've got cupcakes to eat for afternoon tea!

You know that nagging feeling that you've forgotten something?

It really annoys me - and it's been lurking ALL week. But why? There's nothing in my diary that I've missed. (I know I just checked!)

So this week... worked Monday and Tuesday mornings -which was immensely satisfying. Having hit a wall with book 3 - and simply not being able to see the wood for the trees, I'm now back on track and have upped the stakes considerably.

Yesterday was a kindy trip to school. No work -grumble grumble. A large child (one more Big Mac and the kid will explode large) used my left arm as a jungle gym, which accounts for the pain in my shoulder now. Good thing it wasn't my right arm - cos that would've popped that sucker right the hell out.
Yesterday afternoon Breezy had a play date with Molly. You just don't get much cuter than that.
Molly's mum is a fabulous artist. I am in serious awe of her work. Oh my, she's really amazing.

So today... I finally found out that I didn't win the EPIC award. Which doesn't bother me at all, I was delighted to be a finalist with my FIRST book. Not bad! Shall I enter Terrorbyte into next years EPIC awards? I think I shall...
If at first you don't succeed... (nothing sucks seeds like a budgie.. don't ask, it just popped into my head)

I spent a good deal of time trying to do the impossible today - even took a break to pick up Breezy and resumed my quest into the land of stupid. You'd think the break would've allowed sense to prevail... ah.. no.
Turns out - if something truly can't be done, believing it can does not help. So I did it another way and finished the shoulder bag I was making for Squealer. Cos she asked for one like mine - which I made without any trouble whatsoever on Sunday... yeah, I know... apparently between Sunday and Thursday my brain stopped.

There you have it - an overview of my week.

So, tell me... what have you all been up to?

It's the weekend!

Saturday seems to come around quick these days. (and I forgot to give this blog a title so have added one... lol)

A little too quickly for my liking.

Last night I was chatting with my fabulous publisher and a story idea emerged. A short horror about an editor. (Let me quickly point out - we're not talking about our editor at Rebel, cos she is most awesome.) The story idea amused us both. At some stage I shall write it. (Because Joanie said she has too many projects at the moment.) So with that in mind - I shall go searching for a file I kept from a few years back, a file that almost did me in as far as writing goes. I simply could not (and still can't) grasp how the man who wrote the contents of the file could possibly be an editor. To this day the ridiculous comment he made still baffle me.
We have our villain... and I know how he shall die.

So anyway - been a week of changes.

KILLERBYTE is back at #10 on the Mobipocket best of thriller/suspense list. Which has thrilled the hell outta me. Of course, this is me, and I think it should be #1. (See what you can all do about that, will ya?)

Breezy started morning kindy this week. I now have four hours five days a week to work uninterrupted. There is going to be a new rule starting Monday, for Monday through to Friday. No visitors, no phone calls, no freaking texting me until after 12:30 pm every day.
Pretend I am AT work and therefore unreachable until lunchtime unless it's a dire emergency. (I'm talking bleeding out or limb hanging off.)

This is necessary.
I've waited a LONG freaking time to have time for me. Now I have it - I'm hanging on to it and not letting go! It's now my choice if I wanna write, blog, chat on twitter - keep up with all manner of online social network sites, etc. But now that the first week is over - and I've played and had some fun... I'm ready to settle down to work.

Right - now I'm going back to finish watching "Bon Jovi: live at Madison Square Garden"

Have a good weekend!