And the re-write begins

This is the bit I love. Seriously. The coming up with the initial idea and the first drafts are hard work. The re-writing, re-vamping, tweaking of characters, chopping of darlings... now that's where the fun is at.

I knew what my editor was going to say before she said it. And she's right. (It's pretty rare for me to disagree with her.)

So with a brand spanking new first chapter written and the joy of threading the ramifications  throughout the manuscript... while culling darlings, beefing up characters, cutting back on the grief that keeps wheedling its way back in, and working in a really cool little bit of South African horror that my lovely editor fed on a spoon - which ties in perfectly with the plot, and trying to figure out why Kurt irritates Ellie so much - I'm all set for the next few weeks of major over hauling. And so psyched about it too.  Already have a scrap file titled - Exacabyte darlings - for the scenes I'm tossing and ya know those really cool sentences that can one day be re-cycled.

Last night I set about to discover how many times I can play one song before it annoys me. I went to bed after hearing it almost twenty times. (not counting the times it played as part of a short playlist)
It never did annoy me and was still in head my this morning and I've had to share the link with neighbor Kane.
I'll pop the vid link in here too - think I've done it before actually. C'est la vie.

Kevin Costner and Modern West: Let me be the one


Oh and this is helping hugely.

Let me just pop in a little graphic full of links. :-)  I'll stop giggling like a loon at some stage - but NUMBER THREE warrants some giggling!  Oh my!!!  And I suspect it warrants a nice bottle of something red... again.

Best Of

1. The Good Guy 2. Gone Tomorrow: A Reacher Novel 3. Killerbyte 4. Terminal Freeze 5. Deep Storm 6. Executive Orders 7. The Lost Symbol 8. Die Trying 9. Tripwire 10. Without Fail

Having to share the joy!

You think I could resist this one? Think again!! Just sorry I don't have a working printer and can't add the pic to my scrapbook yet!!
And I have one more thing to say.
To everyone who has bought and is considering buying KILLERBYTE -
YOU ALL ROCK!!

Best Of

1. The Good Guy 2. Gone Tomorrow: A Reacher Novel 3. Terminal Freeze 4. Killerbyte 5. Deep Storm 6. Executive Orders 7. The Lost Symbol 8. Without Fail 9. Die Trying 10. One Shot: A Reacher Novel

And don't forget when you've finished KILLERBYTE - TERRORBYTE awaits you. 
I have assured TERRORBYTE it isn't the red-headed step child, it just has to wait for everyone to read it's big brother.... :D


Oh and the website has been re-vamped. 


Love you Long time xx

I was really careful to click "I see you" this morning!

Good morning world.

It's a day - maybe Wednesday - let me check.  Yes, it is indeed Wednesday (April 28th.)

Yesterday was pretty much a right-off. Sick kid, who text me so often during the day that I turned off my phone!! Then confiscated her phone. There is no need to be texting me from within the same damn house. (And you can wait twenty freaking minutes until I get back from the stupidmarket to ask a question.) As I'm the one who tops-up her phone, she better smarten up and fast. I am so very glad I didn't put her on a plan.

Yesterday my glasses arrived. They're quite lovely. Purple. Not terribly different from my blue/green ones but slightly more oval in the lens. Will take pic sometime today. I can flash my designer glasses from Vancouver about the place... probably just about my face really. Nice to be able to see to read.

Other news... Miss Breezy's totally cute "Thank you" video has a permanent home on Lorenza Ponce's Official Facebook page.

You can imagine how hilarious Breezy thinks that is!

Admin Bubbles had her birthday yesterday - I baked cupcakes -which went down rather well. Yay!
Rose and Megan and I sat about talking about our trip to D.C. and NY. We have so many places we want to visit that I think we're going to come home knackered!
Still haven't nutted out details of time spent in each city - etc. But we have plenty of time to do that. The whole point of starting the planning so early is so we don't forget anything and can adjust our stay to suit. (Filming is going to be so much fun!)

Right best get the kids up. Sick one seems well enough to annoy so is going to school cos small one can't go to kindy unless she does. And no one wants another day like yesterday. :-)

Now let's hope I can sort of the chapter number issue... perhaps do away with numbers altogether? nah... I like 'em.

Two in one day and almost ....

I went to add tags to this post only to discover the tags went on forever... it wasn't my blog!!! Almost posted on Un:Bound. ha ha ha. We all know that one day I'm gonna... without realizing. 

It's been a bit of an odd day today for a Monday. Disjointed and not really settling into anything workable.

But for all of that - I have fiddle about with the newly re-written (okay brand spanking new) first chapter of EXACABYTE. And have noticed this book is eclectic song wise. It didn't start out that way - originally I was listening to mainly Bon Jovi - so the chapter titles reflect that. BUT as I re-wrote and tweaked it the music changed and other things came into play - like how Ellie was reacting to life... so we have a little Eric Clapton, a little Lorenza Ponce, some Kevin Costner and Modern west, Bon Jovi, Rolling Stones, Eagles, Nirvana and even Queen.  Which is pretty groovy. I'll have a play list for you later.

Now I just have to remember to re-number the chapters... number one, is number two. Oh dear god! this is where we discover I can't count. I've been here before... trust me it gets ugly as I try and figure out why there are two chapter twenty-sevens and three chapter fifteens. :-) 

Right I'm off to finish cooking dinner... and possibly make apple crumble. (Even though I made choc cupcakes earlier I feel the need for scrummy crumble)

Feisty Monday

If you've been following my blog for a while you'll know the things that TRULY piss me off.

Snotty sales assistants - if you hate your job that much get a new one!
Things falling over a month out of warranty.
Anyone chewing with their mouth open - for fucks sake CLOSE your mouth!
People who don't straighten out the shower curtain.
'Cats' the stage show being played over and over while I'm trying to work.
Slurping - there's no need to slurp - and I will hurt you if you do.
Constant squeaking - have you heard of CRC - they sell it at supermarkets, Get some!...
Okay it's actually quite an extensive list and growing by the minute... so let's not dwell on it!

It's Monday - I love Mondays.
They're quiet and peaceful things.
Until that is... I have to call PaperPlus in North City and insist they replace my Canon printer which died either exactly a month out of warranty or within days of the warranty expiring. - It was unused for a few weeks so it's hard to know which.
What's really pissing me off is the FOUR brand new ink cartridges I'd installed before it died. That's a hundred bucks worth of ink I can't use - and now Paper Plus are saying they don't have to replace or fix it at no cost due to the expired warranty. But they're going back to Canon to see what they say.
Let me draw your attention to a little thing called the Consumer Guarantees Act -and the simple fact that I EXPECTED this printer to last at least five years - like ALL my other printers.
I've never had a Canon printer before - and unless this is resolved (ie, I get a nice new printer and my ink back) I'll not be touching Canon again - with a barge pole! I'll stick with HP and Epson, who I know make reliable printers that go the distance and then some.  Actually if they reimburse me for the ink I could put a new toner cartridge in my HP laser. (And go looking for a HP color inkjet on sale at a later date)

I'm annoyed that there is any dicking around at all over this.

As for the rest of my Monday... Who knows how it will go? It's not even 10 a.m. yet. :-)

I do know that I don't want any volcanoes blowing up any time soon cos I'm waiting for my PRINT proofs of killerbyte and terrorbyte. And they're coming from England.

My new reading glasses are coming from Vancouver - which I find bizarre when I ordered them from a NZ company. But it does explain why it's taking so damn long to get them!! Would've been a better idea for the company to SAY the glasses are made in Vancouver up front, and not after I've emailed twice asking where they are. (having been sure they were supposed to be here by April 21st... now they say May 7th, I can live with that but it would've been polite to say so earlier.)

No one's getting away with anything today. lol

So don't try!

xx

LEST WE FORGET

Yep it's ANZAC day today. April 25th.

It's one of those days that doesn't mean much to most kids. Sport can't be played until after midday on ANZAC day, shops aren't open. As a kid it's an inconvenience. As an adult I think it  activities should be restricted be ALL day not just the morning.
For those in any type of service it is an all day affair. Starting with dawn services and rum and coffee at breakfast.
So today we think about the fallen. We remember those who fight and who fought for our freedom and helped build the heart of this country.
Somethings I can not hear without tears... Last Post is one. Not so much on ANZAC day but at funerals it's an absolute weeper!!

The list of those I remember is long and will never be forgotten.

This is also for everyone who remembers and especially for my fabulous Admins - (Admin one = Rosanne and Admin Bubbles = Megan) - who are Fire Police.

I found this on You Tube.

Somehow it's Wednesday already...

In honor of it being Wednesday already I shall try to write without making horrendous typos. I think we all know that's not possible...

Currently enjoying some peace. Just scrubbed the hallway walls which left me feeling oddly virtuous. (Almost like ironing does really)

Breezy was wearing her tiara this morning at kindy. It suits her. One of the teachers commented that she's going to be truly stunning when she grows up. I suspect she'll still be rocking that tiara! (Let's hope the Intermediate and High School adapt their uniform to include tiara's...)

Breezy's favorite song (of the moment) is now playing. Tis Lorenza Ponce's "Baby please don't go". Breezy likes to sing it when we're out - she just spontaneously breaks into song and always has. Always fun at bus stops.

Cos I'm nice and it's Wednesday  - here's a link to two free downloadable stories written just for you. That's right... YOU. So go enjoy. It would be rude not too wouldn't it, what with them written just for you? Manners people! :-)


Actually while you're floating about enjoying the stories written JUST FOR YOU, you could... yes you could... have a wander through my website and see what's new.

Oh yeah - this has thrilled me to pieces. And it's been doing so for 14 consecutive days.
And on this fabulous note I shall toddle off and go pick up the Breezy one from kindy... and hear about her morning. :-)
The top ten suspense/thrillers (best selling) are as follows:

Best Of

1. The Good Guy 2. Gone Tomorrow: A Reacher Novel 3. Strangers 4. Debt of Honor 5. Killerbyte 6. Terminal Freeze 7. Deep Storm 8. Terrorbyte 9. Die Trying 10. Black Rain: A Thriller

Just the best week!

Fabulous week. Seriously fantastic.

It started with killerbyte's first birthday - then Lorenza's Soul Shifter CD arrived for Breezy.
That was pretty damn special. The kids a HUGE fan of Lorenza's. (It all started when Breezy asked who the beautiful girl playing 'violet' was on the Bon Jovi Lost Highway DVD. Breezy tweets Lorenza via me, and Lorenza is sweet enough to reply and make a little girl deliriously happy.)

Then - how to top that? Well it isn't easy... but let me try...

I'm a couple of weeks away from HOLDING killerbyte and terrorbyte in my hot little hands. (Did I hear a squeal?? or was that just me?? Cos it's hard to tell with all the shrieking going on in my head!)

Those of you with Sony eReaders will soon be able to get ePub versions of both books!! You have not been forgotten.

Very soon the only mediums missing from this multi-media author will be audio and film, so we're obviously going to have to work on those!! :D

We had a fun couple of days out with friends this week. Made small person very happy to be hanging with her best friend.

I'll just slide this in and see if anyone notices... Next March I'll be based in Washington DC for about 25 days. (give or take a day or so) Got some research to do, some filming for up coming trailers, and I would like to do some book signings on the East Coast and I have friends to see! If you wanna see me, say so now while everything is still fluid. This is going to be excellent!!  Oh dear I hear shrieking again - it's coming from me!! :D

Earlier this week I asked if anyone wanted to review both books for me. Hoping like hell a kiwi would respond, because I haven't had a kiwi review yet and not for lack of trying!

Well, J.C.Hart did just that.
I had an idea she was enjoying KILLERBYTE by the tweets I received the other day but what I didn't realize was how much she enjoyed it.

This is a big deal - kiwi's are notoriously laid back or understated I guess is the term, with compliments. Something like, "It's not half bad." Followed by a shit-eating grin - is high praise down here.
So to have a kiwi write such an amazing review - that's big people! That's real big.

We've ended the holidays on a high note and I am so thrilled!!

Okay I'm done.
I think I need a bottle of wine - whoops did I say bottle... I meant glass of course. (yes I know bottles are made of glass and you know very well I ain't drinking out of a bottle!!)

Love you long time xx

PS. Bean - our 'Mo Mhuirnin' is getting a few looks on the ol' website. We're gonna have to do something about that one of these days! *poke poke*

Soul Shifter

I think it's Wednesday - I'm hoping it's Wednesday!

Yesterday was such a fabulous day. KILLERBYTE had a birthday party with cake over at Un:bound. Talk about groovaciousness.

Then the mail arrived. Which led to this total act of cuteness... cos my kid is like that. Well mannered and damn cute! (Mostly!!)



After listening to Lorenza'a CD - we went off to a friends place so Breezy and Squealer could play with other kids. We had a quick stop at the park on the way home.

Then minutes after walking into the house - Breezy needed to hear Lorenza'a CD again.
We declare it fabulous. And Soul Shifter accompanied dinner last night. (If you click on the blog title it will take you to Lorenza'a website - you owe it to yourself to go check out her music. She's one talented lady!)

I've noticed something about Breezy - when she watches music videos she WATCHES. She studies guitarist, drummers and violinists - not so much pianists. She likes to be able to see people's hands and really takes note of what they're doing.

Cake??

Come join us in celebrating KILLERBYTE's birthday over at Un:bound!! There's cake - and oh what a cake it is.

On an even weirder note: (NOT that having a birthday party for a book is weird or anything....)

Yesterday I watched Bon Jovi streaming live from Dallas. Last night I watched "On Deadly Ground" - which happens to be one of my favorite Steven Seagal movies. Some weird shit went on in my brain while I slept and the two combined.
We were at a BBQ or something (We = me and Miss Breezy) - seemed to be Jon Bon Jovi's house - lot's of people around. All families with kids. And this big freaking bear - that decided to follow me. Yep - I ended up wrestling with a BIG bear that had a bunch of fur missing from its neck. That was fun - NOT.
That pretty much set the tone for the whole dream - needless to say I was quite relieved when morning rolled around.

A year later...

Yep, it's been a year since KILLERBYTE hit the eStores. A whole year!

And for the first child it's been an okay journey so far. A bit nerve wracking on the initial push from the nest and first flight but since then it's been a fully positive experience.
In fact I enjoyed the whole thing so much that before KILLERBYTE really earned it's wings TERRORBYTE was ready to follow.

But that's not what this is about - this is about BOOK TRAILERS.
Yes that's right - just like movie trailers but for books and a giant learning curve for us!

You Tube are hosting a contest for Book Trailers until May 15th.

Originally I entered KILLERBYTE - then Chris asked why I hadn't entered terrorbyte. Well it's killerbyte's birthday... which seemed like reason enough to me but apparently wasn't. So I had to confess I don't like the trailer for terrorbyte as much as I do the killerbyte one. In fact in my opinion it sucks and I wanted it re-done but the effort involved in getting it put together at all really pissed me off.

So - this morning - I entered the TERRORBYTE trailer to the contest.

We would be ever so grateful if you'd go vote - obviously you'd only vote for them if you really liked them... unless your family then your obliged. (or a stalker, or Facebook Admins, or a friend both net and flesh. I'm pretty sure net people are made of flesh..., or someone I don't even know yet but you can believe me when I say I WANT to know you... I really do.)

There you have it...  KILLERBYTE turned one... and celebrated wildly.

and both Book trailers are waiting your votes.

Gosh you're fabulous!

xx

First child, second child... hmmm

This morning I've been having a crazy-assed conversation with @hagelrat and @alrutter - because shit like that just happens. 

So anyway - I could just plonk the tweets in here but where is the fun in that? lol

It all came about because I was and am, rather pleased with how this beautiful Friday started out. Sunny, chilly, and with KILLERBYTE #5 and TERRORBYTE # 8. You can find them here. 

And that lead to this: 

Me, sending review copies of both books to Amanda Rutter. 

And a discussion on my parenting skills in regards to both books. Ya see, KILLERBYTE is the older child - everything rests on it. If KILLERBYTE screws up, shit rolls down hill and TERRORBYTE will cop it. 

BUT ya see, KILLERBYTE hasn't screwed up. It's freaking fabulous. It's doing quite well, it's trying hard and starting to hint at hidden potential.

It also overshadows TERRORBYTE a tad - as is often the way with the oldest child. 

Which leaves me in the awkward position of feeling sorry for TERRORBYTE (which is secretly my favorite, anyway) and having to love them equally but pet TERRORBYTE more in secret. 

My gorgeous (seriously have you see this woman??) and very talented publisher told me: "It's not being left out. People first need to get to know Killerbyte and then they'll love and nurture Terrorbyte."

Which of course is true and makes perfect sense.

And led to this: 

Hagelrat: @catconnor we are not leaving terrorbyte out, we love terrorbyte, it's brilliant and the ending oh god @ALRutterTerrorbyte really is fab!

JoanDeLaHaye: @catconnor @Hagelrat Terrorbyte will have it's time to shine.

Hagelrat: @JoanDeLaHaye @catconnor I could weep every time I think of Terrorbyte. You know why!!

And this: @Hagelrat @JoanDeLaHaye so it's not my lack of parenting skills then? Whew!! actually I do push KILLERBYTE more, cos it's the oldest.

Hagelrat: @catconnor surely Killerbyte should be applying for Uni by now?

And this: @Hagelrat You'd think! But no - seems too comfy at home with someone running around after it all day long. Honestly books today have it easy.

Hagelrat @catconnor what drinking juice from the carton, smoking pot with it's friends (actually, I do remember a certain scene)....

See how things snowball?

@Hagelrat I've had to hide the tequila and banned those freaking rainbow people!

Hagelrat: @catconnor hahahahahah Has it started whining about it's own wheels yet?

@Hagelrat There will be no wheels - I'm not filled with confidence by the Special K. I think Sam and Lee will back me up on that! ;-)

So now - with the impending arrival of the third child... will TERRORBYTE suffer middle child syndrome?

Because we all know the third child is doted upon freely and the first carries all the expectations...

It's not summer any more!

Howdy y'all!

We're back, woot!!

Have noticed the temperature up here is much cooler than when I left five days ago. Guess it's actually autumn now - daylight savings ended an' everything!
Had to pop out for a couple more fleece zippered sweatshirt jacket type things today.

Put my cream one on - straight from the dryer (middle of washing our laundry after vacation) and trotted around the stupidmarket and warehouse... got in the car to head to Lower Hutt and there was a mark on the top of my sleeve. Looked like chocolate. You can imagine I was quite annoyed, it didn't come from me or Breezy. I picked at it... then decided to wet my finger and see if I could remove it.
Yeah, well, it wasn't chocolate - it was blood. Someone bled on me. How fuc'n gross.
Of course Squealer is sure I'll now contract Anthrax. Nice!

Holiday was fabulous.

This is where we were... or at least this is the view looking up the beach!

Pretty, yes?

Peaceful too.

Coming up with a few plans at the moment... should be fun either late this year or early next.

I did some filming for the next trailer while away - getting ahead of myself because I could!

Now I need to fix a few annoyances in the mss - that I spotted while reading on vacation, and then I'm going to send the book to my most fabulous publisher.

Oh discovered this morning that KILLERBYTE is #6 - yay!! AND - TERRORBYTE is #8. How freaking marvelous is that?? I'm thinking you all rock big time. :-)

Right back to my soup... yes, making good mother vege soup! Seems Squealer is getting sick, soup might help.

Happy Easter!

Bit of another early start this morning.
Got a decent sleep last night so that was marvelous. Seems after another read of EXACABYTE my brain turned off. I think it was happy to shut down and call it done - until my beloved editor gets hold of it anyway! :-)

Early start today - have to start packing. Have a list. You know I'll forget something - probably my iPod as I got up at 5:30 and have added more music to it and moved stuff I'm just not listening too off. Breezy has her own play list on there now, should make it easier for me!! (Here's hoping I remember to take the USB cord for the thing!!)
Camera would be good too. Need to be thinking about shots we need for next trailer - and as I'll be at the Ferry Terminal - it's the perfect opportunity to get some I know I'll want later.
Rose and Migs, my intrepid Admins, have some fabulous shots for me... not telling - let's keep that as a fun surprise. (y'all remember the burning house footage from terrorbyte? - They're awesome!)

So far so good!

Breezy still sleeping.

The Great Grey hunter has figured out we're going away. The last few days she's been clingy and smoochy. This morning (zero dark thirty) she crawled under the covers with me. She hasn't done that in a long while. Nice to know she'll miss me. No doubt she'll drive Chris crazy and torment her best-friend Milly the rabbit while I'm away. :-)

When I got up this morning - and it's still dark now, so it ain't late... I found Chris at the dining room table  - making adjustments to his tactical holster. Guess I know what he's going to be doing this weekend.

Right people - I'm off to pack etc.

Y'all have an awesome and safe Easter break. I shall see you on Tuesday.

Remember dark chocolate is good for you - especially when washed down by red wine....


Just before I go: Killerbyte #10
                         Terrorbyte #30

:-)