I deemed Breezy well-enough and sent her to kindy this morning. It was starting to look as though she was going to be home for the entire winter. Plus - I had an interview scheduled at ten with a reporter from the Upper Hutt Leader. The very last thing I wanted today was Breezy home, telling us we were talking too loud!
So she went to kindy. She's now lying on the sofa exhausted, pale, and not as well as she looked this morning - or as well as I imagined she looked this morning?
The interview was good. It was even enjoyable. The editor, Rosemary McLennan, was lovely. She also confirmed my theory that we were never taught punctuation in High School. It's true. I used to jokingly say I was away the day we were taught about commas. But in fact we just weren't taught. Good to have that confirmed.
The interview took all morning, and finished with photographs. They weren't horrible, I saw a couple.
It was so very different having someone in front of me conducting an interview instead of doing it at distance. Distance is comfortable... you have time to think, and you can stop and come back to it later. This was immediate and interactive. I liked it. Admittedly was a tad nervous this morning prior to kick-off but was all good.
Now I can say I've done my first newspaper interview and it wasn't scary... although I may change my mind once the newspaper comes out!! :D
The blog of crime thriller writer Cat Connor.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Some days you just need to shoot...
Ya do.
You need to pick up that Glock 17 and shoot the shit out of stuff.
Yep.
Then drink some coffee, CLEAN the house, and shoot some more.
AND then - just cos it's really fun to do... stuff pieces of people into snaplock bags and pack them in a large black polythene bag inside a box. Then add a customs declaration, some stamps, and post the the thing to someone. It doesn't matter who. Anyone will do.
Actually that's not quite true... and maybe you should be careful which hash tags you use in twitter...
Just sayin'
It's been a day.
But you'll be pleased to know the BIGGEST issues have been resolved.
Yay for the Boy Wonder and Yay for hubby getting ONE day off in Sept.
Now - just had a thought. Possibly having a reporter in the house with three handguns sitting on the bookcase... bad?
Not at all worried about the books they're sitting on. I'm sure everyone has books on assassins, weapons, poison, murder, terrorism, body trauma...
It'll go well, I can tell.
You need to pick up that Glock 17 and shoot the shit out of stuff.
Yep.
Then drink some coffee, CLEAN the house, and shoot some more.
AND then - just cos it's really fun to do... stuff pieces of people into snaplock bags and pack them in a large black polythene bag inside a box. Then add a customs declaration, some stamps, and post the the thing to someone. It doesn't matter who. Anyone will do.
Actually that's not quite true... and maybe you should be careful which hash tags you use in twitter...
Just sayin'
It's been a day.
But you'll be pleased to know the BIGGEST issues have been resolved.
Yay for the Boy Wonder and Yay for hubby getting ONE day off in Sept.
Now - just had a thought. Possibly having a reporter in the house with three handguns sitting on the bookcase... bad?
Not at all worried about the books they're sitting on. I'm sure everyone has books on assassins, weapons, poison, murder, terrorism, body trauma...
It'll go well, I can tell.
Wednesday is upon us
And the first thing out of Squealer's mouth was. "Can you find me my inhalers?" That's a great start to the day. Guess that means she has the cold that Chris and Breezy have.
Breezy has gone from croup to a regular cold, which really is a blessing, way less scary having a cold.
The hopes of having everyone well and out of the house for tomorrow are rapidly fading.
Will be fun trying to do a newspaper interview with sick people all over the house. Might have to put up a plague sign on the door and reschedule. NOT. I will shut them upstairs if needs be and spray the house with Dettol.
Bad enough that husband's idiot boss shit-canned his leave application ... and made me going to CHCH in six weeks damn near impossible. Given six weeks notice he apparently cannot cover his job for two days. I'm sure the company (cos no one in Auckland could possible pick up the slack for TWO FUCKING DAYS) will come to a grinding halt if there is no one to run the sales reports for TWO FUCKING DAYS while my husband takes care of HIS own children.
Yeah I'm a bit pissed off.
We all know what happened when I got pissed off at the Postal Service (or lack of service) - yep a book was born. Packages of chopped up postal workers started arriving on peoples door steps. I'm loving Book 4... fully embracing the concept and enjoying the writing. Now seeing that there is potential to start killing off morons who shit-can leave applications for no good reason.
Book 4.5?
I obviously need to spend the day writing. Writing is good. People will die in horrid slow ways and I'll enjoy each death.
Have a nice day...
Breezy has gone from croup to a regular cold, which really is a blessing, way less scary having a cold.
The hopes of having everyone well and out of the house for tomorrow are rapidly fading.
Will be fun trying to do a newspaper interview with sick people all over the house. Might have to put up a plague sign on the door and reschedule. NOT. I will shut them upstairs if needs be and spray the house with Dettol.
Bad enough that husband's idiot boss shit-canned his leave application ... and made me going to CHCH in six weeks damn near impossible. Given six weeks notice he apparently cannot cover his job for two days. I'm sure the company (cos no one in Auckland could possible pick up the slack for TWO FUCKING DAYS) will come to a grinding halt if there is no one to run the sales reports for TWO FUCKING DAYS while my husband takes care of HIS own children.
Yeah I'm a bit pissed off.
We all know what happened when I got pissed off at the Postal Service (or lack of service) - yep a book was born. Packages of chopped up postal workers started arriving on peoples door steps. I'm loving Book 4... fully embracing the concept and enjoying the writing. Now seeing that there is potential to start killing off morons who shit-can leave applications for no good reason.
Book 4.5?
I obviously need to spend the day writing. Writing is good. People will die in horrid slow ways and I'll enjoy each death.
Have a nice day...
Saturday, July 24, 2010
bits and bytes continued
Okay so further to my last blog regarding bytes.
Sara J Henry did make a good point. I could add byte to pretty much any word the only problem with that is the losing of my computer term references.
BUT.
I'm surprisingly okay with that today.
So I've been playing with words that encompass the fourth book (and so on.)
I'm keeping Exacerbyte: note the spelling, which I think is how I had intended to spell it earlier... it works for me, it works for the story. None of my tiles are real words and that is how I like it but they are based on real words or computer terms that happen to sound kinda like real words. :-)
Now, the fun... actually not fun, it's been driving me in-freaking-sane all weekend.
1. Splinterbyte
2. Obliterbyte
3. Eradibyte
4. Imagebyte
5. Murderbyte
6. Slayerbyte
7. Deadbyte
8. Psychobyte (Dionne's offering)
9. Horrorbyte
10. Dreadbyte
11. Dangerbyte
12. Vanishbyte
13. Picturebyte
14. Shatterbyte
15. Gamebyte
16. Terminbyte
17. Mortalbyte
18. Flashbyte
19. Burnbyte
20. Snakebyte (The tequila reference is too hard to resist... thanks Turner! xx)
I have tried very hard not to add masterbyte to that list! I would appreciate it if no one else added it too. :D
Come join the fun and let me know which you prefer!
My preferences so far are... Splinterbyte, Slayerbyte, Flashbyte (book 4) I'm leaning close to Flashbyte.
Very close.
Very very close.
Sara J Henry did make a good point. I could add byte to pretty much any word the only problem with that is the losing of my computer term references.
BUT.
I'm surprisingly okay with that today.
So I've been playing with words that encompass the fourth book (and so on.)
I'm keeping Exacerbyte: note the spelling, which I think is how I had intended to spell it earlier... it works for me, it works for the story. None of my tiles are real words and that is how I like it but they are based on real words or computer terms that happen to sound kinda like real words. :-)
Now, the fun... actually not fun, it's been driving me in-freaking-sane all weekend.
1. Splinterbyte
2. Obliterbyte
3. Eradibyte
4. Imagebyte
5. Murderbyte
6. Slayerbyte
7. Deadbyte
8. Psychobyte (Dionne's offering)
9. Horrorbyte
10. Dreadbyte
11. Dangerbyte
12. Vanishbyte
13. Picturebyte
14. Shatterbyte
15. Gamebyte
16. Terminbyte
17. Mortalbyte
18. Flashbyte
19. Burnbyte
20. Snakebyte (The tequila reference is too hard to resist... thanks Turner! xx)
I have tried very hard not to add masterbyte to that list! I would appreciate it if no one else added it too. :D
Come join the fun and let me know which you prefer!
My preferences so far are... Splinterbyte, Slayerbyte, Flashbyte (book 4) I'm leaning close to Flashbyte.
Very close.
Very very close.
Friday, July 23, 2010
So exactly what is an Exabyte?
An exabyte is a freaking headache, that's what it is.
Darling Beloved asked what I was working on - I told him book 4, he asked what I've titled it.
When I said Exhibyte he quickly pointed out how similar that sounds to Exacerbyte. I tried to justify it, but he's right. The annoying thing is... I like the name, and it works for the book.
So I started looking at the other titles. The whole Byte thing is quite the rod for my back! BUT - here's the kicker. Thus far it's all worked... or has it?
Well no, it fuc'n well hasn't.
It would've but for some reason I went TERRORBYTE to EXACERBYTE and it never occurred to me that PEDABYTE should come after TERRORBYTE. (an attack of stupid?)
While was butchering computer jargon during the initial writing...I missed petabyte and jumped to exabyte. Then renamed Satellite as PEDABYTE, and that will not work... petabyte cannot come after exabyte and exbibyte (one of those is going to have to go, and I LOVE them so much, and they work!!)
Look at this list and tell me if you think I can work it, or will people get confused. (They sound completely different, it's just how they look that could be a problem on covers.)
1. KILLERBYTE:
2. TERRORBYTE:
3. EXACERBYTE:
4. EXHIBYTE: could become ZEALABYTE (which would work for the story, in fact better than the original title as - exabyte and exbibyte are VERY closely related, and the stories are not.)
5. PEDABYTE: This has become the odd one out. And now it looks so wrong!! Especially if I use ZEALABYTE for book 4. The original title for 5 was Satellite. It's looking as though I will return to that... and leave the bytes behind. OR... I butcher the language further but this time I twist cenobite for my own purposes. And make it sound like a computer term. CENOBYTE. (a member of a communal religious computer based order or a chat room or a forum?) Now that, folks, is something to consider!
6. ETHERNET: going to have to rethink that, let's not worry about that one yet!!
Jump in, share your opinion... all comments welcome (unless you're advertising some fuc'n stupid internet get rich quick work from home shite... if that's the case. Go away and never come back.)
Darling Beloved asked what I was working on - I told him book 4, he asked what I've titled it.
When I said Exhibyte he quickly pointed out how similar that sounds to Exacerbyte. I tried to justify it, but he's right. The annoying thing is... I like the name, and it works for the book.
So I started looking at the other titles. The whole Byte thing is quite the rod for my back! BUT - here's the kicker. Thus far it's all worked... or has it?
Well no, it fuc'n well hasn't.
It would've but for some reason I went TERRORBYTE to EXACERBYTE and it never occurred to me that PEDABYTE should come after TERRORBYTE. (an attack of stupid?)
While was butchering computer jargon during the initial writing...I missed petabyte and jumped to exabyte. Then renamed Satellite as PEDABYTE, and that will not work... petabyte cannot come after exabyte and exbibyte (one of those is going to have to go, and I LOVE them so much, and they work!!)
Look at this list and tell me if you think I can work it, or will people get confused. (They sound completely different, it's just how they look that could be a problem on covers.)
1. KILLERBYTE:
2. TERRORBYTE:
3. EXACERBYTE:
4. EXHIBYTE: could become ZEALABYTE (which would work for the story, in fact better than the original title as - exabyte and exbibyte are VERY closely related, and the stories are not.)
5. PEDABYTE: This has become the odd one out. And now it looks so wrong!! Especially if I use ZEALABYTE for book 4. The original title for 5 was Satellite. It's looking as though I will return to that... and leave the bytes behind. OR... I butcher the language further but this time I twist cenobite for my own purposes. And make it sound like a computer term. CENOBYTE. (a member of a communal religious computer based order or a chat room or a forum?) Now that, folks, is something to consider!
6. ETHERNET: going to have to rethink that, let's not worry about that one yet!!
Jump in, share your opinion... all comments welcome (unless you're advertising some fuc'n stupid internet get rich quick work from home shite... if that's the case. Go away and never come back.)
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
EXHIBYTE
It's me, Cat... or at least I think it is. (Pretty sure no one else is set to hijack this blog... so it probably is me.)
At the moment I'm over 30K into the 4th Conway book. (remember how 4 become 5, blah, blah...) so anyway... this is book is kicking ass. I'm enjoying it so much sleep appears to be unimportant. Which we all know it isn't... but there ya go. Appearances can be deceiving. Let me entertain you... or is that deceive you? Who can keep those straight? (no, I don't make a habit of listening to Robbie Williams.)
I just finished backing up todays work. It's quite exciting seeing the file grow so fast... such a joy knowing I wrote all those words and so far they make sense - and if they don't quite, they will.
Faith.
Have some, it goes a long way during the initial writing phase.
So my music choices for this WIP. Oddly predictable. :D
Lorenza Ponce
.
Bon Jovi.
The Doors
(maybe that wasn't quite so predicable).
Kevin Costner and Modern West
.
The Rolling Stones
.
I think Kevin Costner is back in the line up because in Ellie's eyes SSA Kurt Henderson is very similar to Kevin Costner, and Kurt is front and center in this particular story.
Some old faces have returned too. Mr. P. and Kev (not Costner) but Ellie's friend the cop from Mauryville. Sam and Lee, it wouldn't be right without Sam and Lee. And some new faces from book 3 - who you haven't met yet, come back as well.
It's fun.
I like to explode things. I like it a lot.
No knives in this story (at least not so far) - but there is fire, there are explosions, there are guns, and lot's of bad bad people. Some would say, boxes of them.
I should either write some more or clean this house!!
At the moment I'm over 30K into the 4th Conway book. (remember how 4 become 5, blah, blah...) so anyway... this is book is kicking ass. I'm enjoying it so much sleep appears to be unimportant. Which we all know it isn't... but there ya go. Appearances can be deceiving. Let me entertain you... or is that deceive you? Who can keep those straight? (no, I don't make a habit of listening to Robbie Williams.)
I just finished backing up todays work. It's quite exciting seeing the file grow so fast... such a joy knowing I wrote all those words and so far they make sense - and if they don't quite, they will.
Faith.
Have some, it goes a long way during the initial writing phase.
So my music choices for this WIP. Oddly predictable. :D
Lorenza Ponce
.Bon Jovi.
The Doors
(maybe that wasn't quite so predicable).Kevin Costner and Modern West
.The Rolling Stones
.I think Kevin Costner is back in the line up because in Ellie's eyes SSA Kurt Henderson is very similar to Kevin Costner, and Kurt is front and center in this particular story.
Some old faces have returned too. Mr. P. and Kev (not Costner) but Ellie's friend the cop from Mauryville. Sam and Lee, it wouldn't be right without Sam and Lee. And some new faces from book 3 - who you haven't met yet, come back as well.
It's fun.
I like to explode things. I like it a lot.
No knives in this story (at least not so far) - but there is fire, there are explosions, there are guns, and lot's of bad bad people. Some would say, boxes of them.
I should either write some more or clean this house!!
Friday, July 16, 2010
A blog hijacking...
Good afternoon,
Let me start with an introduction; I am SSA Kurt Henderson. Not only am I an FBI agent I am also a fully qualified medical doctor. I specialized in Emergency Medicine.
I've hijacked the blog due to a little issue I'm having.
I first met SSA Conway outside the Interscape café in Lexington, down in Rockbridge County, Virginia. A woman had collapsed after viewing the contents in the trunk of Ellie’s car. (I almost said after viewing Conway’s trunk. A slip like that could be fatal.)
Conway and I go back awhile. I’m fully aware of her penchant for contrariness. (Which no doubt she’s forcibly denying. Wouldn’t be Ellie if she didn’t.) An opportunity arose recently, Director O’Hare suggested Delta A travel with medical assistance on hand. Was something I couldn’t resist, so perhaps I will have to visit the psych when we get back?
It’s interesting. The four of us, we get along. We meshed. I did harbor some doubts before I joined the team, they’re a close unit. Can’t seem to lose my suit though. They’re tidy casual. I’m in a suit.
And then, the other night, I overheard Conway talking. I’m not a hundred percent sure she was talking to anyone else. I never saw anyone but her. (That’s not as unusual as it sounds.)
She was laughing, because LL Cool J looks like Sam, and Lee was mistaken for Tony Sharron – the Grange guitarist. (You know that famous band that all the women scream over, right?) Then she says, “I need to call Kurt, Doc. He reminds me so much of Kevin Costner, he’s got this whole ‘Bodyguard’ thing going on. And I’m sure I’ll call him Kev if I have to say Kurt.”
It’s the suit, isn’t it?
It’s the suit.
There are worse people to be compared too. I’m okay with this. But what do you think it means?
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Life doesn't end when you do
My name is Special Agent Mac Connelly. Mac, will do fine.
I married Ellie Conway, because I loved her from the first day I spoke to her in a chat room. The very first sentence that came from her fingers hooked me.
We had a great life right up until some lunatic broke her heart. I stopped counting after four shots. Or maybe I couldn't count and breath at the same time. It's not like I don't know what happened. I just don't like thinking about it. Even now.
So why am I here? Because I can't leave. The pull for me to stay is strong. Doesn't matter if she moves on.
I can't.
I know everything.
The thing that tormented me the most was not telling her who I really was.
I am Mac.
But she didn't know the whole story, turns out Ellie had a hidden past herself. She didn't so much not tell me, as block it completely so it wasn't an issue.
But I can see what's happening. I am watching it all unfold.
She's not listening.
I'm a memory in a messenger window... a butterfly in a hallway... a ripple in a still waters. Yet all I want to do is reach out and grab her hands.
"Listen to me Ellie!"
"It's all going pear shaped."
I'll find a way to make her listen. I will not let him get her, her life will not end like mine.
My name is Mac Connelly.
I used to live.
I married Ellie Conway, because I loved her from the first day I spoke to her in a chat room. The very first sentence that came from her fingers hooked me.
We had a great life right up until some lunatic broke her heart. I stopped counting after four shots. Or maybe I couldn't count and breath at the same time. It's not like I don't know what happened. I just don't like thinking about it. Even now.
So why am I here? Because I can't leave. The pull for me to stay is strong. Doesn't matter if she moves on.
I can't.
I know everything.
The thing that tormented me the most was not telling her who I really was.
I am Mac.
But she didn't know the whole story, turns out Ellie had a hidden past herself. She didn't so much not tell me, as block it completely so it wasn't an issue.
But I can see what's happening. I am watching it all unfold.
She's not listening.
I'm a memory in a messenger window... a butterfly in a hallway... a ripple in a still waters. Yet all I want to do is reach out and grab her hands.
"Listen to me Ellie!"
"It's all going pear shaped."
I'll find a way to make her listen. I will not let him get her, her life will not end like mine.
My name is Mac Connelly.
I used to live.
Monday, July 12, 2010
If it were easy - everyone would do it.
Ellie occasionally has things she’d like to share. So today, I am turning my blog over to her.
If it were easy, everyone would do it.
By SSA Ellie Conway. (I still think SSA Conway sounds like a ship)
Sometimes I wonder why I do it. Then I remember it’s a vocation not a job. Being always ‘on’ can be tiring and can be downright annoying, but mostly it’s satisfying.
I know my mother never understood my choice of career - but then my mother didn't understand a lot of things about me. (Or anyone part way normal - not bitter at all, it's simply an observation. Sometimes these observations are easier once the ground goes cold.)
Cat's working on a new book.
I'm working on a new chapter in my life. It's pretty exciting all around.
Feels like we're moving forward, taking some of the past with us, but only the bits we need not the whole lot any more.
Moving right along and not wallowing on those we've left behind.
I heard Cat talking about movies - she wasn't alone. She shared her insight with Joan and Adele.
If anyone gets to play me... I kinda like the idea it would be someone as cool as Marley Shelton. Marley you get my vote! :D
Sam got one helluva kick outta LL Cool J playing him. He reckons LL might just be cool enough. (Lee’s not sure about that… he thinks LL Cool J may be too cool for Sam.)
Admittedly Sam and I laughed a good deal over the whole Michael Weatherly playing Lee, thing. Too hilarious. But only cos it's so close to our Lee.
From what I could glean this is how the cast list should read for KILLERBYTE (and TERRORBYTE) the Movies.
SSA Ellie Conway - Marley Shelton
SA Sam Jackson - LL Cool J
SA Lee Davenport - Michael Weatherly
Mac Connelly - Keanu Reeves(y'all sure about that? Dude... I'm seeing it!)
Then comes my fun - wanna know who our SAC Caine Grafton reminds me of?
Bruce Willis, seriously - Caine is Bruce, man oh man he can be one scary teddy bear.
(Just recently he's been a little more Seagal than Bruce! Get it together Caine, cos really ya wanna go the Seagal route?)
I look at the people in my life and now I see them in a different light.
A much more amusing light. One that will have me giggling all day.
I should get to work... before they start wondering where I am.
Take care y'all, and thanks for having me over Cat!
Ellie xx
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Hello, I love you
Of all the Doors songs to have in my head... Hello, I love you! Please! So not what was on my mind... or so I thought. Seems it's what was on Ellie's mind, and as I am currently embroiled in her life, yet again - she's sharing songs with me. Sometimes characters can get a little invasive, ya know?
The other day was Bon Jovi's Thief of Hearts... stuck with me all day. Still not entirely sure what that was all about. Don't thin kit was Ellie that time... but then who knows with her?
And because this the coolest toy since well, sliced bread... these two books are captivating and Sherron makes a lot of sense in them (yes I have them both, although I think Kane borrowed the first one!).
And there is a reason for this apparent act of unrelated madness. It's not at all unrelated.
Sherron Mayes has a theory regarding the song...on Facebook.
Which caused much amusement on both sides of the world. :-)
I'm so glad we 'met' Sherron. The net can be a groovy place!!
I'll let y'all ponder this...
Here's the thread:
The other day was Bon Jovi's Thief of Hearts... stuck with me all day. Still not entirely sure what that was all about. Don't thin kit was Ellie that time... but then who knows with her?
And because this the coolest toy since well, sliced bread... these two books are captivating and Sherron makes a lot of sense in them (yes I have them both, although I think Kane borrowed the first one!).
And there is a reason for this apparent act of unrelated madness. It's not at all unrelated.
Sherron Mayes has a theory regarding the song...on Facebook.
Which caused much amusement on both sides of the world. :-)
I'm so glad we 'met' Sherron. The net can be a groovy place!!
I'll let y'all ponder this...
Here's the thread:
Cat Connor Why oh why have I had Bon Jov's 'Thief of hearts' stuck in my head ALL day? Trying to write here... wonder if it's Ellie trying to tell me something?
Sitting here watching the world go round and round
I can't help it... the globe at the bottom of this blog entices me. Then I start playing with it. Spinning it every which way. Slowing it down, speeding it up... waiting to see if anyone falls off.
So far I haven't lost anyone. I hope none of y'all get motion sickness. Maybe I should hand out sick bags as you come in?
So, it's the weekend. Almost Sunday.
Saturday was pretty freaking fun.
Men folk are away in super secret Area 51. Hope they're keeping warm. :D
I cooked dinner for Rose, Megan and Dionne.. .and the kids. We started drinking Port about 4 pm. That was a good call. Kane came over after dinner... we plied him with Dolcetto. He's pretty easy really... wave a wine glass near him and it's a done deal. We've missed ya Kane. ;-)
We haven't all been together in ages. So tonight was awesome with a capital A. And yes, there will be photos tomorrow. Would be now but the camera is downstairs and I'm in bed upstairs.
Remind me tomorrow - some of the photos looked pretty darned funny on the camera... oh and there is video. No telling what that will be like... ha ha ha
This afternoon I finished another chapter - chapter eight. EXHIBYTE is coming along nicely. Having much fun with Ellie writing this one. There are some fun new elements to work with. REALLY FUN.
Love ya long time...
So far I haven't lost anyone. I hope none of y'all get motion sickness. Maybe I should hand out sick bags as you come in?
So, it's the weekend. Almost Sunday.
Saturday was pretty freaking fun.
Men folk are away in super secret Area 51. Hope they're keeping warm. :D
I cooked dinner for Rose, Megan and Dionne.. .and the kids. We started drinking Port about 4 pm. That was a good call. Kane came over after dinner... we plied him with Dolcetto. He's pretty easy really... wave a wine glass near him and it's a done deal. We've missed ya Kane. ;-)
We haven't all been together in ages. So tonight was awesome with a capital A. And yes, there will be photos tomorrow. Would be now but the camera is downstairs and I'm in bed upstairs.
Remind me tomorrow - some of the photos looked pretty darned funny on the camera... oh and there is video. No telling what that will be like... ha ha ha
This afternoon I finished another chapter - chapter eight. EXHIBYTE is coming along nicely. Having much fun with Ellie writing this one. There are some fun new elements to work with. REALLY FUN.
Love ya long time...
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Quick cheese muffin recipe
Because writing can be hungry work... or maybe because I forget to eat and it's way easier if I have something quick to grab while I pour another coffee. Today I made muffins. Cheese ones and Berry ones.
Here's the cheese recipe:
3/4 cup tasty cheese
2 cups plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 Egg beaten
50 grams butter melted
1/2 - 3/4 cup milk
Put cheese into large bowl. Sift flour, salt, pepper, and baking powder into bowl. Stir to combine. Quickly stir in egg, butter, milk, just to moisten. Spoon mixture into muffin tins (I line mine with paper muffin cases, saves scrubbing the muffin tin afterwards.)
Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes or until golden.
makes 12.
Here's the cheese recipe:
3/4 cup tasty cheese
2 cups plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 Egg beaten
50 grams butter melted
1/2 - 3/4 cup milk
Put cheese into large bowl. Sift flour, salt, pepper, and baking powder into bowl. Stir to combine. Quickly stir in egg, butter, milk, just to moisten. Spoon mixture into muffin tins (I line mine with paper muffin cases, saves scrubbing the muffin tin afterwards.)
Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes or until golden.
makes 12.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
It must be morning: the clock says so
Haven't managed to drag myself out of bed yet. It's nearly 7:30 and that's just not done. Usually I am half way through my second coffee by now! I haven't even had one yet. (Not good.)
Birds are twittering outside. That's a nice positive start to the day.
Managed some writing last night. Which may explain my sluggishness now. It was enjoyable writing. I've gone from Noel Gerrard annoying me - to enjoying toying with him. He's quite confused Ellie, and that's a bit of fun in itself.
Ah Breezy is up. I hear giggling.
Hagelrat over at Un:Bound wrote an interesting piece on memorable deaths at Killer Reads.com. Enjoy, I did.
Quite enjoying having an Amazon Associates box thing right here as I type this. Of course now I want to put cute little links on everything. I'm not even listening to music... so I can't in good conscience pop in a music link to show what I'm listening too. Nor am I reading. Although I was recently re-reading this. (I know prepare yourself.... so much fun!)
Isn't that cool?
Very good book, by the way. Quite an eye-opener into the life of a sniper. They're special people. (Not in a eye-rolling, 'gosh you're special way')
Think that's about it for me now.
One more thing.
If anyone is able to snap a few pictures for me of the following places, let me know! Would be hugely helpful to upcoming trailer.
AMI Stadium, Christchurch.
International flight taking off from Christchurch airport. (Esp Emirates or United)
International flight landing in Auckland. (United, American Airlines, TWA)
The front of Oakton High School - Oakton, VA.
United or Air NZ flight landing at Dulles. (Taking off would be awesome too.)
A picture of the gates at The Navy Yard in DC.
I'll leave that with you, for now.
have a good Wednesday!! I'm off to make coffee.
Birds are twittering outside. That's a nice positive start to the day.
Managed some writing last night. Which may explain my sluggishness now. It was enjoyable writing. I've gone from Noel Gerrard annoying me - to enjoying toying with him. He's quite confused Ellie, and that's a bit of fun in itself.
Ah Breezy is up. I hear giggling.
Hagelrat over at Un:Bound wrote an interesting piece on memorable deaths at Killer Reads.com. Enjoy, I did.
Quite enjoying having an Amazon Associates box thing right here as I type this. Of course now I want to put cute little links on everything. I'm not even listening to music... so I can't in good conscience pop in a music link to show what I'm listening too. Nor am I reading. Although I was recently re-reading this. (I know prepare yourself.... so much fun!)
Isn't that cool?
Very good book, by the way. Quite an eye-opener into the life of a sniper. They're special people. (Not in a eye-rolling, 'gosh you're special way')
Think that's about it for me now.
One more thing.
If anyone is able to snap a few pictures for me of the following places, let me know! Would be hugely helpful to upcoming trailer.
AMI Stadium, Christchurch.
International flight taking off from Christchurch airport. (Esp Emirates or United)
International flight landing in Auckland. (United, American Airlines, TWA)
The front of Oakton High School - Oakton, VA.
United or Air NZ flight landing at Dulles. (Taking off would be awesome too.)
A picture of the gates at The Navy Yard in DC.
I'll leave that with you, for now.
have a good Wednesday!! I'm off to make coffee.
Monday, July 5, 2010
The beginnings of a book trailer
It's that time again. When I start thinking about scenes and compiling a collection of still photographs and short film sequences - so the annoyance can begin.
Some would call it a book trailer - but they probably don't live with someone who puts things off and leaves things until the last minute and then drives you crazy about the whole thing.*
I thought maybe this time I could learn to edit the thing myself. If I start now - I might have it sussed by the time I'm ready for it to hit the world. (Or not, last time the whole thing drove me insane and I declared it too much for me to do on top of everything else but sadly that meant I was stuck with a trailer I hate and that felt rushed because of the above... see *.)
So anyway - with a camera that is now playing up so badly I had to delete pictures almost before I'd started... I have taken the first few film clips and a bunch of stills.
Ideally I'd like a shot of a large jet taking off from Dulles, and a similar one landing at Auckland, and leaving from Christchurch. But I think that might be mission impossible. (Along with a few stills of outside Oakton High School in northern Virginia, and a shot of the Navy Yard in DC.)
Also need a shot of the outside of the AMI stadium in Christchurch but we didn't have time to get lost trying to find it, last weekend.
I was tempted to move setting from Christchurch to Wellington because it's a helluva lot easier for me to take the required photo's up here. But I'll manage - might have to fudge a few pictures and hope no one notices.
Soon I will start looking for just the right piece of music. Creepy and suspenseful.
Cross something and hope I can pull this off without needing the help of the man, cos that just stresses me out as time ticks and nothing happens! :D
Some would call it a book trailer - but they probably don't live with someone who puts things off and leaves things until the last minute and then drives you crazy about the whole thing.*
I thought maybe this time I could learn to edit the thing myself. If I start now - I might have it sussed by the time I'm ready for it to hit the world. (Or not, last time the whole thing drove me insane and I declared it too much for me to do on top of everything else but sadly that meant I was stuck with a trailer I hate and that felt rushed because of the above... see *.)
So anyway - with a camera that is now playing up so badly I had to delete pictures almost before I'd started... I have taken the first few film clips and a bunch of stills.
Ideally I'd like a shot of a large jet taking off from Dulles, and a similar one landing at Auckland, and leaving from Christchurch. But I think that might be mission impossible. (Along with a few stills of outside Oakton High School in northern Virginia, and a shot of the Navy Yard in DC.)
Also need a shot of the outside of the AMI stadium in Christchurch but we didn't have time to get lost trying to find it, last weekend.
I was tempted to move setting from Christchurch to Wellington because it's a helluva lot easier for me to take the required photo's up here. But I'll manage - might have to fudge a few pictures and hope no one notices.
Soon I will start looking for just the right piece of music. Creepy and suspenseful.
Cross something and hope I can pull this off without needing the help of the man, cos that just stresses me out as time ticks and nothing happens! :D
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Down the island and back again
We made it to Monday and home!
YAY.
On Friday at 6 a.m. we left for a weekend in Christchurch. The Ferry crossing and drive were uneventful apart from some directional difficulties that would've put Mac's lack of directional sense to shame!!
We got lost trying to leave Blenheim. We got lost trying to find the hotel in Christchurch - The Chateau on the Park.
That became the pattern really.
We managed to check in, but then had to take the Boy Wonder to Jo Jo's. In the dark, Christchurch seems flatter and has even less landmarks... if indeed that is possible.
We found Jo's, eventually. But then had to find somewhere to feed kids and our way back to the hotel.
Obviously we got there in the end!!
Saturday morning started badly. I pulled my chair in at the hotel restaurant - the seat was loose, I didn't know that, until my finger became trapped between the seat and frame, under me. Not pleasant. No one filled out an accident report, despite Chris informing staff and asking for ice. (More about that later)
So anyway... we ate, I ate one handed. We headed off to kill sometime in Northland's Mall. I had just brought Breezy and new outfit and myself a fabulous handbag. It's purple and black and shimmers... more about that later and maybe pic.
Breezy was skipping along, as she does, then smack. She flew and landed on the left side of her face/forehead on the floor. The store owner right by us, turned away. (CHCH you suck) I started toward a chemist shop for ice when the head of security came along. He was fabulous. Chris scooped up Breezy and we followed the security man to the offices. He got an ice-pack, Chris did his health and safety office thing. Security man, filled in accident report. (See how that happened, immediately?) Breezy had concussion, badly bruised knee and a weird crush injury to her thumb. The staff in Northland's office were fabulous.
Let's skip ahead to checking out shall we?
Sunday. I went to check out, discovered we were charged an extra $72 for breakfast. Unbelievable. I asked for the accident report from the previous morning. There wasn't one. Crazy. I insisted on there being one filled out immediately. Listened to some lame excuses as to why it wasn't done at the time, got quite annoyed. (Hello, fucktards I'm a writer and YOUR chair crushed my finger, because it was badly maintained!! Something like that SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN in a RESTAURANT.)
I'm sensing a nasty letter heading their way, containing legalese.
AND to top it all off, my camera is playing up - intermittently. A lot of the photo's I needed for the upcoming book trailer are crap.
YAY.
On Friday at 6 a.m. we left for a weekend in Christchurch. The Ferry crossing and drive were uneventful apart from some directional difficulties that would've put Mac's lack of directional sense to shame!!
We got lost trying to leave Blenheim. We got lost trying to find the hotel in Christchurch - The Chateau on the Park.
That became the pattern really.
We managed to check in, but then had to take the Boy Wonder to Jo Jo's. In the dark, Christchurch seems flatter and has even less landmarks... if indeed that is possible.
We found Jo's, eventually. But then had to find somewhere to feed kids and our way back to the hotel.
Obviously we got there in the end!!
Saturday morning started badly. I pulled my chair in at the hotel restaurant - the seat was loose, I didn't know that, until my finger became trapped between the seat and frame, under me. Not pleasant. No one filled out an accident report, despite Chris informing staff and asking for ice. (More about that later)
So anyway... we ate, I ate one handed. We headed off to kill sometime in Northland's Mall. I had just brought Breezy and new outfit and myself a fabulous handbag. It's purple and black and shimmers... more about that later and maybe pic.
Breezy was skipping along, as she does, then smack. She flew and landed on the left side of her face/forehead on the floor. The store owner right by us, turned away. (CHCH you suck) I started toward a chemist shop for ice when the head of security came along. He was fabulous. Chris scooped up Breezy and we followed the security man to the offices. He got an ice-pack, Chris did his health and safety office thing. Security man, filled in accident report. (See how that happened, immediately?) Breezy had concussion, badly bruised knee and a weird crush injury to her thumb. The staff in Northland's office were fabulous.
Let's skip ahead to checking out shall we?
Sunday. I went to check out, discovered we were charged an extra $72 for breakfast. Unbelievable. I asked for the accident report from the previous morning. There wasn't one. Crazy. I insisted on there being one filled out immediately. Listened to some lame excuses as to why it wasn't done at the time, got quite annoyed. (Hello, fucktards I'm a writer and YOUR chair crushed my finger, because it was badly maintained!! Something like that SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN in a RESTAURANT.)
I'm sensing a nasty letter heading their way, containing legalese.
AND to top it all off, my camera is playing up - intermittently. A lot of the photo's I needed for the upcoming book trailer are crap.
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