Rachel.C

Last review for a while.

2010-03-03T11:53:00.002+08:00

It's kind of common knowledge that I've moved back to Australia from Singapore and the reviewing was one of the things that had to go. I have one review up this month and it's my last for a while. I can't keep everything up and the writing has taken priority for the next little bit.

You can always find me at any of the below places.

Rachel Charlton Blog

Rhian Cahill Blog

International Heat Blog

For now my last review:-

Sunset Knight by Sami Lee - Review

Life on the move.

2009-12-02T08:19:00.003+08:00

Yep, my life is changing in a major way, again. *sigh* We're moving back to Australia. We're down to two weeks until the house is packed up and we board a plane for Sydney. I'm surprised I managed to get much done other than packing but I did. Yay me! I've been madly trying to finish a short story for an anthology call, it's almost done and then it'll be off to the CP's and finally to the publisher before the Jan 1st deadline. (fingers crossed)

Anyway, here's the reviews I did last month.

Anybody But Justin by Shelli Stevens - Review

Luck Be Delanie by Shelli Stevens - Review

Protecting Phoebe by Shelli Stevens - Review

Redline Lover by Charlene Teglia - Review

Uncovered by Linda Winfree - Review

Back to packing.

Boy have I been busy.

2009-11-03T20:08:00.003+08:00

So busy I only managed one review last month. *sigh* I miss reading all those great books. Anyway, here's the one I did get done.

Adrianna's Cowboy by Savannah Stuart - Review

Hopefully I'll get to do a few more this month.

Recent reviews

2009-09-21T21:04:00.002+08:00

Yeah, I know I'm slack at blogging lately but you can always catch me at one of my other blogs. All the links are in the sidebar. There's so much going on in my life at the moment that the reviewing has slowed right down but here's a couple I did recently.

Hard Candy by Amy Ruttan - Review

Rookery Cove: Restrictions Applied by Fiona Jade - Review

The McCassey Cousins Bk1: When Night Falls by Lauren N. Sharman - Review

Heat Of Passion by Elle Kennedy - Review

Saddled by Delilah Devlin - Review

Second Hope by J.B. McDonald - Review

Past Promises by N.J. Walters - Review

Blogger is annoying me!

2009-08-03T08:23:00.000+08:00

For some reason I'm having nothing but trouble with blogger lately. *sigh* I'm trying to add stuff and it won't let me! *stomps foot*
Anyway, I'll keep trying but I'm tempted to abandon it all together. I'll keep you posted.

I survived my first writers convention.

2009-04-29T23:31:00.002+08:00

Yes I'm alive! It was a close call but I made it. It got a little overwhelming but with the help of some great friends I made it through the week without any scars. A bit worse for wear and totally exhausted but it was one of the best weeks of my life. Of course getting to meet all my author friends from online for the first time in the flesh was THE best thing. I've blogged about it over at Rhian's blog and there's even a pic page that I'm slowly adding pix to. Got check it out HERE.

Now for last months Fallen Angel Reviews.

All I Want For Christmas by Kelly Jamieson - Review
Moon Madness by Mina Carter - Review
Tempting Tori by N.J. Waters - Review
The McCassey Brothers Trilogy Megabook by Lauren N. Sharman - Review
Hearts Afire March by Jade Morrison & Shaunta Grimes - Review

I'm hanging at my CP's house this week and it's great to be in the same room with Mari. She's just the best and we've done so much laughing I think my sides are bruised. I'm off to New York on Friday to meet Hubby and we'll be traveling around a bit but you can catch my updates on twitter www.twitter.com/RhianCahill
I'm freezing at the moment and I'm sure NY is only going to be colder. Glad I bought my big jacket with me.

A plug for my alter ego

2009-04-10T17:31:00.003+08:00

My first short story is being released on April 11th from Noble Romance Publishing. It's the first in a collection of stories about woman finding love and lust in foreign countries and I loved writing this first one and I'm just as enthralled with the second which is almost ready to be submitted to the publisher. But for now here's the first one.

One Night In Bangkok by Rhian Cahill available April 11 from Noble Romance Publishing

One night in Bangkok is all it takes to turn Beth Martin’s future plans upside down. After being betrayed by the man she’d tied herself to the last thing she needs is another man screwing her life up. But Tom is different. He makes her feel sensations long forgotten, makes her want in ways best left unspoken. Can she live out her wildest fantasies in one decadent night? And when it’s over, can she walk away, or will what she doesn’t want prove to be what she needs?

Bad, bad blogger!

2009-04-03T12:52:00.002+08:00

Yes, I know I've been away a long, long time. So lets get to it. Here's the reviews I've snuck in over the last couple of months.

Chasing Sunset by Sami Lee - Review
Cry Sanctuary by Moira Rogers - Review
Last Call: Kamikaze by Moira Rogers - Review
Last Call: Hurricane by Moira Rogers - Review
Fall Into Me by Linda Winfree - Review
A Question Of Trust by Jess Dee - Review
Wicked Garden by Lorelei James - Review
Secret Intentions by Caitlyn Nicholas - Review
Taking Tara by Alyssa Brooks - Review
Cowboy Lies by Lynde Lakes - Review
Love Me Tomorrow by Dee Tenorio - Review
Lucas by Eliza Gayle - Review
Crux by Moira Rogers - Review

I've had to cut back on the reviewing as I've managed to score myself my first contract. Noble Romance Publishing will release One Night In Bangkok on April 10th. It's the first in a series of short stories about woman finding love and lust in foreign countries. The second story is ready to be submitted after a little more tweaking. You can find out more at Rhian Cahill.

I'll be in and out over here as I'm three weeks away from going to the US for 8 weeks. First stop is the Romantic Times Convention in Orlando then it's off to my CP Mari Carr before meeting Hubby in New York City. We'll be going from there to Atlanta back to Washington DC and then he flies home and I continue to my other CP Devon Gray. Then it's back to Mari's before we both head off to the Lori Foster Reader Appreciation weekend where we're meeting up with our other CP Vivian Arend and some other great writer/reader/cover artist friends that are part of a new group blog International Heat. I'll try to post once a week with pix or at least some news of how it's going.

FAR reviews for December.

2008-12-04T13:44:00.002+08:00

Here's the list of reviews I did last month. There are some really, really great books in this bunch.

Scarlet and the Sheriff by Carly Carson - Review
Going For It by Elle Kennedy - Review
Rough, Raw, and Ready by Lorelei James - Review
Carnal Harvest by Robin L. Rotham - Review
Hot In The Saddle: Conn 'n' Caleb by Ciana Stone - Review
Devils on Horseback: Zeke by Beth Williamson - Review
Tall, Dark, and Texan by Jodi Thomas - Review
Have Yourself a Naughty Little Santa by Karin Tabke - Review
By The Book by N.J. Walters - Review

Go check them out.
Rachel C

New Release!

2008-11-26T21:53:00.003+08:00

RETREAT by MARI CARR

Jon Walker and Night Thomas lived their childhood in a cult. They embraced the lifestyle, and it was there that they were trained as BDSM Masters. Only when the cult was infiltrated by undercover agent Reilly did the boys learn of the cult's seedy underside, and help to destroy it.

Nearly fifteen years later, Jon's job as a high school teacher — and his lust for the school's gorgeous secretary, Carly — bring him close to the normal life he's always craved. Just when that life is within his grasp, Reilly returns. An incarnation of the cult has resurfaced with Jon's evil mother at the helm, and Reilly wants Jon and Night to go undercover to stop Cassandra Walker once and for all.

Shocked by his mother's return and his BDSM past come back to haunt him, Jon is terrified of Carly discovering his dark secrets. Including the darkest of all — his complex relationship with Night, and his unrelenting urge to share Carly with his best friend.

Rachel C

NEW RELEASE!!!

2008-11-20T13:53:00.003+08:00

Okay, have to brag.
My CP Devon Gray has a new release. I love this story, it's had many forms over the time I've known Devon and to finally see it in print, well, let's say it more than flutters my heart. PLAYING FOR KEEPS is published by The Wild Rose Press - The Wilder Roses. It's been out for less than 24 hours and already 2nd on the bestsellers list.
You can find Devon here and here, and her other book ADDICTED.

PLAYING FOR KEEPS by DEVON GRAY

Pasts are best left behind, hidden deep in your memory—that is where I buried mine. The feel of his hands and mouth on my body, the height of sensuality I reached beneath his touch. I'd fought so hard to forget—how could just the sight of him bring it all back, forcing me to become lost in him? Again.
Years before I had watched him, craved him—a guitarist in a band riding the wave to stardom—my brother's best friend. On the verge of womanhood, I never dared to reveal how I yearned. Until a cold New Year's Eve when I offered myself as the woman I'd become, bringing to fruition the deepest of wants. As that night turned, so did my life. Devastatingly so. I never dreamed I'd become another of his one night stands.
Can pasts be exorcised if they come back to haunt you? And when a notorious playboy who broke your heart offers you his…how do you know if he's playing for keeps?

Rachel C

Reviews are up!

2008-11-01T13:26:00.003+08:00

My reviews for October are up on the Fallen Angel Reviews site. I'm slowing the reviewing down getting ready for our trip back to Australia for Christmas. There's so much to organize over the next 6 weeks that I won't be able to find as much time to read and review as I'd like. Plus I'm taking on NaNoWriMo again, so I'll be busy writing my own stuff. Let's not talk about the fact that I should be doing that right now. Here are the reviews:-

Daringly Delicious by Leigh Ellwood - Review

Hidden by Karen Erickson - Review

Hot Rodeo Night by Sage Burnett - Review

Hot Shot by MJ Fredrick - Review

Wild Frontier by Sienna Black - Review

Kaitlin's Silver Lining by Ciara Gold - Review

Cattleman's Club: Patton's Way by Jenny Penn - Review

That's it. Catch ya later, I'm off to write.

Rachel C

Checking in.

2008-10-23T11:01:00.003+08:00

The Tribe at the Grand Canyon. Don't we look happy? It was chilly and windy and I loved it. I wanna go back!

So, what am I doing? Well, what I'm not doing is the reviews that I have due but don't panic I'll have them in before deadline. It's just that there's been some things going on around here that are taking up a lot of my time.

I've got a health issue I won't bore you with but it's not something that'll go away quickly and needs me to make decisions I'd really like someone else to make. *sigh* Anyway, I've made them and I'll be jumping over that hurdle in the near future.

The Princesses started home schooling. Did I mention before that I hoped this would be the best thing? So far it's the best damn thing I've ever done for them. They're loving it. They're enthusiastic, which has to be a good thing. AND, they're smiling! Oh, and we have to hatch shrimp on the weekend so they can do their biology lesson on Monday. How cool it that?

I'm supposed to be writing, LOL, I am doing some. Just not as much as I'd like. I received and email telling me the editor I was working with for Rhian's submission is leaving the company and my ms was being passed to another editor. What this will mean I'm unsure of but I haven't heard from the new one yet so I've stopped doing what I was doing (requested by original editor) until I hear from the new editor.

I'm doing a beta read/crit for a fellow writer I met on the Romance Divas forum. It's a rom/sus and I gotta say I love it! It's taking me longer than normal because I kept getting lost in the story and forgetting I was supposed to be checking it for plot holes, flow, missing words, etc. But I gotta say, I LOVE IT!!!

Anyway, off to do some stuff.

Rachel C

I'm Back!!!

2008-10-13T19:44:00.003+08:00

This was us just over two weeks ago on our way to board the first plane in our two plane journey to LA. Damn it went quick! We had a blast and I'll be blogging pix for weeks, months, maybe years, there are almost 10,000 of them after all. LOL Yes, we took that many pix. L to R - Hubby, Princess & the Pea, Me (in back), The Kid (in front), Son#1's girl (in back), Princess One (in front) and Son#1. I think we look rather good for 4:30 in the morning and no sleep.

So while I was away Fallen Angel Reviews loaded last months reviews and I wasn't here to blog them so I'm blogging them now.

Stone's Soul - Lexxie Couper - Review
Tequila Truth - Mari Carr - Review
Lily Blossoms - NJ Walters - Review
Sensual Spell - Rachel Carrington - Review
Broken Pentacle - Eden Rivers - Review
Hungry For More - Diana Holquist - Review
Insatiable Desire - Rita Herron - Review
Sin In Jeans: The Hussies Series - Ciana Stone - Review
The Preacher's Daughters: Wild Chaote - Sheri Gilmore - Review
The Long Road Home - Lauren Sharman - Review

Rachel C

Back in two weeks!

2008-09-26T23:20:00.002+08:00

Well, I'm off on our family holiday. It's taking us a 7 hr flight and then a 9 hr flight to get to LA but who cares when we'll be touring LA, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and San Francisco! Sooooo.......

Leaving On A Jet Plane - Lyrics by John Denver

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin' it's early morn
The taxi's waitin' he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh baby, I hate to go

There's so many times I've let you down
So many times I've played around
I tell you now, they don't mean a thing
Every place I go, I'll think of you
Every song I sing, I'll sing for you
When I come back, I'll bring your wedding ring

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time let me kiss you
Close your eyes I'll be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I won't have to leave alone
About the times, I won't have to say

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh baby, I hate to go

Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Bye bye!

Rachel C

New Release - 24th Sept '08

2008-09-24T09:35:00.004+08:00

KISS ME, KATE by MARI CARR

Blurb:

Kate is blindsided when her husband cleans out their house and bank account before skipping town with another woman. Desperate to get out of her sister’s apartment, Kate jumps at the chance to help Rick and Wes, DEA agents whose latest case finds them in urgent need of a house-sitter.

Taking care of the old farmhouse is just what she needed. As the months pass, a stronger Kate emerges. She’s also developed an email friendship with Rick, and it isn’t long before they secretly begin starring in each other’s lust-filled fantasies. Problem is, after her failed marriage, Kate wants only a physical relationship. She’s terrified of losing her heart—which is exactly what Rick intends to capture upon his return.

They reach a compromise. One that involves explosive, no-strings sex—for now. Rick patiently deflects her fears and willingly slakes her passion while keeping his darker fantasies in check, afraid of scaring his shy, innocent lover. But unbeknownst to Rick, Kate has a few untapped fantasies of her own.

Remember if you're on my side of the world it might be the 24th but it's still the 23rd at Ellora's Cave. If you want to check out an excerpt go here. Or visit Mari's website to check out all her great books.

Rachel C

New Release

2008-09-17T14:14:00.004+08:00

Author R.G. Alexander has a new book, Piercing The Veil, out today 17th Sept from Ellora's Cave. She busy right now with clean up after hurricane Ike so I'm helping her out by doing a little promo for her. I was lucky enough to do a spotlight interview with her for the August Fallen Angel Reviews Newsletter and I've been even more fortunate to read two of her books for review. But let's get back to today's release.

Here's the blurb:

Piercing The Veil

Twins Hawk and Val are Fianna warriors under the vengeful curse of a scorned goddess. Following the prophecy in the Book of Veils, they search for the one who can help them retrieve the Claiomh Solais before their enemies get the chance. Their quest leads them to Linnea. One touch and there can be no doubt that they have found their match. But will she accept them once she knows the truth?

Linnea is no one special. So why is she on the run from evil faeries and her egotistical ex? Why is she suddenly spending time in the company of dragons, druids, and one kinky Viking with a split personality? All she knows is she has to keep her daughter safe from those who hunt her, and her heart safe from another betrayal.

To protect one gifted child and all of humanity from the dark god that seeks retribution, they must learn to trust each other. To have a future together, they must find the perfect balance.

So go check out R.G.'s new book HERE and don't forget to check out her others HERE.

Rachel C

It's been a while.

2008-08-30T10:55:00.002+08:00

Yeah, I know I've been neglectful but I've got good reasons I'm just not going to bore you with the dramas of my life. I will try to be around more often, note the word try. So the FAR update went live yesterday. Let's see what reviews I did last month.

Bedroom Behavior 101 - Sophia Rae - Review
Electrify Me - Renee Field - Review
Oh Yum! Love Thy Neighbor - Amy Ruttan - Review
Jackson's Jewel - NJ Walters - Review
Oh Yum! Sins & Redemption - Lyn Cash - Review
Mater Of The Game - Emma Petersen - Review
Oh Yum! Risking It All - Anna J. Evans - Review
Hotter Than The Fourth Of July - Liz Andrews - Review
Flyboy - Nicole Austin - Review
Cole's Gamble - Jory Strong - Review
No Sex Necessary - Jane Beckenham - Review
Kitchen Matches - Marianne Arkins - Review
His Ordinary Life - Linda Winfree - Review - Bk 2 Hearts of the South series
Hold On To Me - Linda Winfree - Review - Bk 3 Hearts of the South series
Memories Of Us - Linda Winfree - Review - Bk 5 Hearts of the South series
Hearts Awakened - Linda Winfree - Review - Bk 6 Hearts of the South series

I want to make a special mention of Linda Winfree's Hearts of the South series. I've now read all the books in this series, Hearts Awakened is released on the 2nd Sept. This series is a must read. Linda has blown me away with all of these books. They can be read out of order but you really need to do them in order. If you like romantic suspense I can't recommend them enough, although Hearts Awakened is classed as a romantic contemporary it's still a must read.

Moving on to other things. We're going on holiday. To the US!!! Yay! On the 27th of September we'll be landing in LA for 13 days of touring LA, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and San Fran. The US will never be the same after the Charlton's have been. LOL
Okay, I'm off to do some work. What? Reading's work! I've got to write reviews for you guys! It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

Rachel C

New Release!

2008-08-01T08:14:00.004+08:00

ADDICTED by Devon Gray releases today, August 1st! I've read it, there are some advantages of being a CP, and it's great! It's available from The Wild Rose Press - The Wilder Roses. Here's a teaser.

Lose Control. Lose Yourself. Get Addicted.

It seemed like a great idea at the time--escaping for a summer with my best friend, leaving behind a job I hated and all my indecisiveness. Three months in a small beach town would clear my head, brighten my outlook on the future, guide me in the right direction.

I had no way of knowing what that summer would bring. The things I would be capable of, the lengths to which I'd end up going , the intensity with which I would yearn. I had no way of knowing about him.

He came into my life like a summer storm--sudden, intense, with a threat of danger; flooding my senses until I was drowning in him. The problem with addiction? You crave what you need…whether it is good for you or not.

You can also check out Devon here. I really can't say enough good things about this book. I love it!

Rachel C

Fallen Angel Reviews Update.

2008-07-28T13:46:00.002+08:00

FAR went live with the monthly update last weekend, you can find all the great reviews and author interviews, as well as a heap of other goodies on the site.
Last month I did 15 reviews, passing the 100th book reviewed. The lucky #100 was A Legal Affair by NJ Walters, a great book that I did give a RR (Recommended Read) to. I thought I'd give you all the links to the reviews so you can check them out for yourself, but while you're there you should check out the FAR site.

Oh Yum! - Young Stud by Ruth D. Kerce - Review
A Psychic Hitch by Bekki Lynn - Review
Make U Sweat by Amie Stuart - Review
Taking Control by Jamie Hill - Review
Undeniable by Lexie Davis - Review
Roughing It by Vonna Harper - Review
Beyond The Valley by Destiny Blaine - Review
Who Needs Another Superhero? by R.G. Alexander - Review
Backtrack: The Huntsmen by Amber Green - Review
Letting Luce by Jenny Gilliam - Review
A Little Slice Of Heaven by Gina Ardito - Review
Something About That Lady by Carol McPhee - Review
Living Lies by Dawn Brown - Review
Vampire Knights - Blood Vengeance by Bronwyn Lee - Review
A Legal Affair by N.J. Walters - Review

That's quiet a list for last month, I doubt that I'll get as many this month as my life seems to have imploded on a personal level. Hopefully it'll get better soon. I won't bore you with any details but I will say everyone is healthy, unless I decide killing them is the only option, and I'm not sure why I'm not an alcoholic. LOL

Rachel C

Blast from the past.

2008-07-16T16:06:00.003+08:00

Months ago now, and I feel really slack for not getting it up here sooner, I won Karen Erickson's Fortune's Deception, I promised to blog about it when I read it and I never did. Sorry. So now here I am blogging about this great fun read. And why might you ask am I blogging about it now, well, I've been thinking about doing a blog on books I've read for myself on not for FAR for a while and today I learned that Karen has signed the contract for the second book in the wonderful series, Fortune's Promise. Yay!!! Anyway, back to why we're here.

Fortune's Deception - Blurb

Winning the lottery changes her life forever…in more ways than one
One minute Brittney Jones is living paycheck to paycheck, and the next she and three friends win a record-breaking lottery jackpot. Sure, she’s spent some money on herself—after her rough childhood, she figures she deserves a few indulgences, big and small.
To financial advisor Charlie Manning, his client Brittney is a shallow beauty out to spend all of her money. He thinks she should rein it in. She thinks he should loosen up, and resolves to help him do just that—in a very naughty way.
The passion between them burns hot and fast, and Charlie comes to realize Brittney’s heart is as big as her newly fattened bank account. She’s not only smart, but beautiful and sexy. And he can’t resist her.
Still, Charlie is aware that Brittney’s keeping secrets from him. If only she would trust him enough to tell the truth!

Fortune's Deception is available from Samhain Publishing and is a great book. I'm hanging out now for the second one, it's not out until Jan '09!!!!! Aaaahhhhhhhh...........

Rachel C

Make the most of every second.

2008-07-14T18:35:00.003+08:00

This is the kid! He's the one that inspired the title today. My youngest is what I like to refer to as high maintenance. VERY high maintenance. He doesn't stop. If he's sitting still his mouth is flappin'. Yep, that's my boy, always ready to dive right in and give it a go. He makes the most of every second, and so he should, the damn kid is lucky to be here, three strikes your out rule doesn't apply to my boy. He's beat the odds three times now, and I'm sure there'll plenty more times in the future he'll push the boundaries too.
So taking a leaf out of his book I'm put some excerpts up on my other blogs. Go here for Rachel's romantic suspense and here for Rhian's erotic romance. After you've read them be sure to leave me a comment, I always love to know what you think.
We had a great weekend, we had home made Big Macs for dinner last night. They were yummy and tasted just like the real thing. Hope your weekend was good and you week gets better.

Rachel C

The rock I hide under.

2008-07-11T23:12:00.002+08:00

This is obviously not one of my pix but it shows our condo complex. If you want to see a real pic head over to here or here. So this is where I live, we're on the 11th floor on the end of the left building, basically as far left as the building goes. They're 30 stories high. (shuddering)

An author friend, Sami Lee is guest blogging over at the FAR Blog today, head over here and leave her a comment.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Rachel C

A quick hello and goodbye.

2008-07-09T22:10:00.002+08:00

Damn! I lost a day! Here's the pix I promised, hello and goodbye. The top is sunrise, the bottom sunset. Gotta love the views from my place. I'll be back on deck tomorrow with something more entertaining. Maybe.

Rachel C

The Day After Tomorrow??

2008-07-08T11:38:00.002+08:00

Ever seen the movie The Day After Tomorrow? I tell ya, some of the storms that head our way are downright scary. This one even had a mini twister that we could actually see touching the water! And yes, I have heaps of photos of it.
This past weekend saw me complete my 100th review for FAR. I can't talk about the book yet because we're not allowed to talk about them until they go live on the site at the end of each month. I've decided to start posting the links to my reviews here each month to let you all know what books I've reviewed in the previous month. But first, let me go back in time......

Soul Master - Reese Gabriel - Ellora's Cave
Cabin Fever - Shelli Stevens - Cobblestone Press
Rain Fell Down - Lexie Davis - Total-e-bound
36 Exposures - Linda Mooney - Amazon Shorts
Pregnancy Plan - Tina Gayle - The Wild Rose Press
The Bride Wore Boots - JT Schultz - Whiskey Creek Press
Craving Kismet - Jamie Craig - Samhain Publishing
Yours For The Taking - Karen Erickson - Cobblestone Press
Coaches' Wives - C.D. Conejo - eXtasy Books
Scout'n'Cole - Ciana Stone - Ellora's Cave
Best Laid Plans - Bronwyn Green - Cerridwen Press
One To Grow On - Caitlyn Willows - Amber Quill Press
Something Wild - Sable Grey - Cobblestone Press
Primal Attraction - Shelli Stevens - Cobblestone Press
Scorpio Tattoo - Jude Mason - Phaze
Angela's Abduction - JoJo Brown - eXtasy Books
Guarding The Coast - Samantha Gail - eXtasy Books
Rose Petals Anthology Volume 1 - Various - The Wild Rose Press
Far From Montana - Penny Ash - Liquid Silver Books
Last Chance - Kit Wylde - Freya's Bower
Tamara's Spirit - Nicole Austin - Samhain Publishing
In The Blink Of An Eye - Catherine Stang - Whiskey Creek Press
A Healing Passion - Samantha Lucas - Cobblestone Press
Double Deutsch - Shayla Kersten - The Wild Rose Press
A Stranger's Bed - Sophia Rae - The wild Rose Press
Ridley's Rival - Dawne Dominique - Love You Divine
Again - Adrienne Kama - Ellora's Cave
The Black rose - Skyler Grey - Red Rose Publishing
Reach Out And Touch Someone - Pearl Jones - Aspen Mountain Press
Risking It All - Anna Leigh Keaton - Cobblestone Press
Baby It's Cold Outside - Ellen Addie - Phaze
Undying Passions - Amy Mistretta - Samhain Publishing
Ranch Hideout - Julia Daniels - Cerridwen Press
Winter's Daughter - J.C. Wilder - Samhain Publishing
Jesse's Challenge - Nicole Austin - Samhain Publishing
Sweet Serenity - Catherine Stang - Whiskey Creek Press
Crossing The Line - Catherine Stang - Whiskey Creek Press
Two For The Money - Leigh Wyndfield - Loose Id
Eliza's Copper Penny - Ciara Gold - Champagne Books
Foxfire - Carol Ann Erhardt - The Wild Rose Press
Too Good To Be True - Marie-Nicole Ryan - Samhain Publishing
Chasing Phoenix - Christine d'Ado - Ellora's Cave
Familiar Strangers - Keziah Hill - Cobblestone Press
Home To Stay - Jane Leopold Quinn - Loose Id
Dangerous Grounds - Shelli Stevens - Samhain Publishing
The Pirate And The Puritan - Mary Clayton - The Wild Rose Press
Enough - Nicole Austin - Ellora's Cave
Beware Of The Cowboy - Mari Freeman - Ellora's Cave
Restless - Nicole Austin - Ellora's Cave
A Delicious Taboo - Jennifer Cole - Dark Eden Press
Playing To Win - Shelley Munro - Cerridwen Press
Spin Some More - Red Garnier - Ellora's Cave
Bareback - Amber Green - Loose Id
Court Appointed - Annmarie McKenna - Samhain Publishing
Sarah's Brass Token - Ciara Gold - Champagne Books
Night Wolf - Karen Erickson - Amber Quill Press
What Mattered Most - Linda Winfree - Samhain Publishing
Shaking Off The Dust - Rhianna Samuels - Samhain Publishing
Who Wants To Date A Superhero? - R.G. Alexander - Ellora's Cave
The Preacher's Daughters 2: Witching Hours - Sheri Gilmore - Loose Id
Breaking Skye - Eden Bradley - Phaze
The Seduction Of Cassidy Flint - Samantha Lucas - Siren Publishing
Fancy Free - Shelley Munro - Ellora's Cave
I Love Lacy - Lillian Feisty - Ellora's Cave
Anything But Mine - Linda Winfree - Samhain Publishing
Sidelined By Love - Ana Aragon - The Wild Rose Press
High Voltage - Calista Fox - Red Sage Publishing
Cowgirl Up And Ride - Lorelei James - Samhain Publishing
Between A Ridge And A Hard Place - Annmarie McKenna - Samhain Publishing
Nature's Pentacle - Eden Rivers - Loose Id
Baby Decision - Tina Gayle - Amira Press
Tempting Adam -Shelli Stevens - Samhain Publishing
Sand Angel - Mackenzie Mckade - Ellora's Cave
Bringo Springs - Laney Cairo - Torquere Press
Fly By Knight - Sahara Kelly - Ellora's Cave
Lila's Capture - Jade James - Loose Id
Halloween Heart-throbs: Witchy Woman - Karen Erickson - Total-e-bound
Deadly Sins I - Lexxie Couper/Eve Vaughn/Kira Stone - Changeling Press
Stay With Me - Maya Banks - Samhain Publishing
One Good Man - Lacey Thorn & Cindy Spencer Pape - Ellora's Cave
Bedside Manner - Sophia Rae - The Wild Rose Press
Absolutely Not - Daisy Dexter Dobbs - Ellora's Cave
Picture Perfect - Lexie Davis - Total-e-bound
A Taste For Jazz - Ciana Stone - Ellora's Cave
Deadly Dreams - Rie McGaha - Noble Romance Publishing
Too Tempting - Karen Erickson - Ellora's Cave
Devil's Dance - Scarlet Sanderson - The Wild Rose Press
Night Ride - Desiree Holt - The Wild Rose Press
One Night With You - Jane E. Jones - The Wild Rose Press
Coming Attractions - S.L. Carpenter & Sahara Kelly - Ellora's Cave

Whoa! That's a lot of books! It's not quite 100 but that's because there's a pile on the site waiting to go up in the end of July upload. As soon as they're live I'll post about them here.
By the way, if anyone's keen to do reviewing FAR is always looking for reviewers, pop over to the site and find out how.
I've linked to some authors and some publishers and some books, so go ahead and discover a whole new world of reading.

Rachel C

New ideas.

2008-07-07T11:02:00.003+08:00

This is my office. It doesn't look like that at the moment, in fact I can't actually find my desk. I need to have a clean up but I'm busy, writing. Yep, getting lots done in the last few days, not as much as I was doing last month but we at the 50k blog have set a new challenge. Pick your own goal and log in with it, then each day come back and add what you did. Sounds simple, and it is, Sandie's calling it the page a day challenge but I'm going for 1000 words or 1 chapter edited. It's all up to you. We're starting today but I've been going since Saturday and so far I'm reaching my goal every day. Yay me!

I visit a few author blogs and over the last few weeks Linda Winfree (who's a great author by the way) has been posting pix of her recent holiday so I've decided to post pix in my posts from now on as a way of showing you all my part of the world. I've started with my work space because I couldn't decide what to post first. LOL But I've now decided that I'll do a week of the same area, so if I choose to do Singapore I'll post pix taken all over for that week. This week will be where we live.

Did you see the new widget I've got on the sidebar? I love Nora Roberts and this is a new thing for her so I just had to have it. If you're a fan grab on for your site, it's easy. Everyday it tells you something about her, it's really cool. I want on when I get that famous. LOL

Must go and get on with the day, yes it's nearly lunch time but we're on school holidays here so we're getting to sleep in and be lazy about getting up and going. Two more weeks then it's back to the 6am wake ups. sigh

Rachel C

Alive a kickin' butt!!!!

2008-07-01T16:36:00.003+08:00

Yep, that's what I've done in the month of June. The 50ksIn30days challenge finished yesterday and during the month of June I wrote 100,015 words. I absolutely kicked butt! Of course I couldn't have done all that on one wip, I had to work on five which means none are finished. sigh
I know, I'm hopeless but I have discovered that when I put my mind to it I can write some serious word count numbers. Of course I'm not always in charge of my mind so hence the working on five wip's. The muse may be a hunky bloke but he's going to have to watch it or he's getting the sack and I'll high another muse to do his job.
Reviewing hasn't stopped and the FAR site went live with June's reviews over the weekend. I don't even know how many I did last month but you can find all the reviews here: http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/
I'm steaming ahead with the writing and even though this month was hectic I've enjoyed it. I'm also pretty brain dead, but never fear I'm still writing. I plan to have a few things finished by the end of July and I'm sticking to the plan.

Rachel C

Stranger than fiction?!

2008-06-18T09:14:00.002+08:00

Love, laughter, tears, depression, sadness, vomiting on laptops, hating your parents, nasty letters and emails. Sounds like a great book, right? Wrong! That's my life! It's real, it happened and OMG! stop the bus I wanna get off!!!!!
So the love and laughter were for me and Hubby while we were away. We had a great time, lazing by the pool, going to the spa, and just doing what we wanted. I should have known I'd pay for it.
We arrived home to a missing child. Yep, no one knew where she was. Great! Then Hubby found a letter in his draw from said child about how she hates her life here, hates her school, she's depressed and it's really great that you got what you want in life daddy but I hate mine. P.S. I love you. Umm......
By late Sunday evening we still were no closer to getting anywhere with said child when another one starts screaming from the bed room that the cat just vomited all over her laptop! What? What was he doing on your laptop? Needless to say this was not a good thing.
Then Monday I get and email from said child, 'I never want to talk to you again. Eva!'. What the...? What did I do? I replied of course but she wasn't talking to me. Duh! Finally got that it was all my fault and that I don't care about her because if I did I'd send her back to Australia to live. I just want her here to make her life hell. Well, yeah, because that certainly makes my life a bed of roses. Just watch the thorns.
Vomited on laptop still not working and we're madly trying to get it to function enough to back up the files. Yes, nothing backed up and all her school work and photographs are on there. One more Duh! moment.
Tuesday, girls taking a mental health day (sounds good doesn't it?) and we're off to get the laptop looked at. Thankfully we managed to get the stupid thing to work enough to back up the files and photos, but the keyboard wouldn't work at all. Well, jeez, I wonder why? It's not like it got drowned in cat spew! What was I thinking?
Mental health day went well. Lots of talking between the girls (I'm included here) and nasty email writing child is a little more stable. At least I hope she is, she knows where the knives are kept. Laptop got fixed, yay! New keyboard required and I have to say those little things are amazing, they just pop right out and a new one pops right in. Oh, there's a couple of screws. But anyway, it was still under warranty! No cost! Thank you very much. Good thing too because girly is off to Australia for 4 weeks on Friday and she can't go without it!!! Oh, the horror!
Wednesday, all at school, mum finally able to breathe. Now to catch up on all the things that got put on hold.

Taking a break.

2008-06-11T10:25:00.002+08:00

I won't bore anyone with the dramas of my life, but really, did someone drop me into a daytime soap opera and not tell? I've been working on Rhian's re-writes and the latest wip so I haven't been completely unproductive, I just haven't been all that productive. I have managed to get to nearly 9,000 words for the 50ksIn30days which I'm happy with considering the number of actual days I've written.
I'm pulling out an old wip that I plan to write under Rachel Charlton but it's a single title so don't expect to see it any time soon. But I'm doing something with it that I never thought I'd do. Plotting! Yep, I have to. The wip in actually a two story one and I need to get the bits and pieces straight before I start with the writing again. You know, time lines, characters that appear in both books. Lots of work I think. Just need to bite the bullet and do it.
On a brighter note, Saturday is my 20th wedding anniversary. I know, I don't look old enough to have been married that long. LOL We're leaving the kids behind, in the capable hands of the oldest, for 4 days of relaxing by the pool. We're not going far, just across the water to Batam, an island of Indonesia. I'm planning on writing and reading. If you're lucky I might post some pix when I get back.
Have a great weekend.

Rachel C

Seven days of mind numbing activity.

2008-06-03T15:31:00.002+08:00

It's been a week since I posted anything here, and it was a productive one for the most part. I'm writing up a storm on Rhian's latest wip, Lux. I've done over 6,000 words on that one in the last seven days. The editor got back to me about On A Wing And A Prayer, she's asked for some changes and I'll be getting to those soon. I promise. I got that email last Saturday but by then I was into my third day of a pulled back and headache. I quick trip out with Hubby and an even quicker slip on a wet floor and I really pulled my back. Sunday? Migraine city! Damn I love that place! NOT!!!! Sunday of course was the 1st of June and the start of the 50ksIn30days challenge, so with the help of some pills I battled through to do 2,000 words. Not bad considering. By Monday I was in so much pain I could quite happily have committed murder. Luckily kids were in school hubby was at work and at home son went off for a job interview. Ahhhh... peace. More drugs, sleep, some more pills (and by now I think I rattled when I moved, not that I was moving) and I managed to write another 2,000 words. Woohooo...... go me!!
Ah...... No. Not go me. I read them today, those 2,000 words from yesterday, and let's just say that they were.... well.... interesting?! I'm not sure how to describe them other than I had no idea I was writing a fantasy. No, really, if what I'd written was even remotely salvageable I'd do it but nope, sorry, in the trash. But at least I tried, right. Right?
Oh, well back to it.

Rachel C

Getting back into the swing.

2008-05-27T10:44:00.002+08:00

We've had visitors for over a week and most of that time was spent playing tour guide. What a blast! I'm exhausted. I think we covered half of Singapore in about four days. We of course, went to China Town and Bugis Street for shopping. We had breakfast at the zoo. We ate out every night, went to Ski 360 cable ski park, visited the Merlion statue, Raffles Hotel. Actually, I think we did all that in three days. Now they're gone, off on their trip to Europe. The house is so quiet I can hear the dust mites breathing! LOL
I'm back to writing every day and the 50ksIn30days starts on Sunday so I need to get back into the swing of things before then. I'm planning to work on four novellas I've got in various stages of production. But as they'll be published under Rhian Cahill I probably shouldn't talk too much about them here. This split personality thing is confusing and tiring.

May the Word Gods smile upon you.

Rachel C

No turning back.

2008-05-21T18:53:00.002+08:00

Rhian has now got a home on the world wide web!

www.rhiancahill.com

It's up and running and I'm pretty pleased with it. I built it. From scratch, well not quite, I used the templates but I did the rest. Head over and check it out, there's photos that I've taken over the last year living in the tropics and visiting exotic locations. Let me know what you think.

Rachel C

Rhian Cahill gets her own place.

2008-05-16T18:07:00.001+08:00

Rhian Cahill now has a blog. I've got a bio and an excerpt page up and I've put the prologue of the ms that's on the editors desk for you all to have a look at. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the site and the excerpt.
www.rhiancahill.wordpress.com

Rachel C

We break your regular programming for some important information!

2008-05-15T17:46:00.002+08:00

I've been quiet. Very quiet. I've had some exciting stuff going on that kept me busy and away from here.
I've had a full manuscript request!!!!
Yep, there's now a full sitting on an editors desk, well not yet, I'm about to send it. The request came through this morning and I'm just going over it one more time. I know, I know call me obsessive. I don't care!!!! I've had a full requested!!!!!
If you want the full story pop over to my wordpress pages to read it.
www.rachelcharlton.wordpress.com
I'll keep you posted on what's going on, but things are moving so fast I think my ass just overtook my belly!

Where are those topless table dancing tarts when you need them??

Rachel C

Book Cover Gods pay a visit to Devon.

2008-05-12T07:38:00.004+08:00

The Gods that handle book covers are surely smiling on Devon. This is the book cover for Addicted. There's just one word; HOT! It fits the story perfectly and we're sooooo excited to have such good luck with it. (Yes I used the royal 'we', but hey, she's my CP and I've been with this book from the ground up) Still don't have a release date but she is on the coming soon page at The Wild Rose Press website. (link in sidebar) Can't wait for it to come out, especially now we have a cover.

I should be so lucky when my turn comes.

Rachel C

Had to come back and tell you Devon just got the book trailer that the talented Allie Boniface made for her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBnGrAK5T-s
It's really cool and fits so well with the story.

Blogging from Manila!

2008-05-09T11:26:00.002+08:00

Here I am working hard. I did really well yesterday, got about 2,000 words done on one wip and read two books. The plane ride was just over three hours, a bit bumpy but I'm getting better at the air travel. Last two trips I haven't taken anything for the sickness and haven't been sick. Well I've felt sick but I haven't actually been sick. I have managed to get myself a very sore throat. It was a little bit before we left but I didn't think too much of it until I got up this morning and couldn't swallow my own spit. Umm... guess I'll be off to the doc's when we get back. I finally got Internet access, and no, I have nothing to do with the bodies behind the reception desk. I'm getting back to work now, gotta keep going while the flow is there.

The muse is gorging on all around her even if I'm not.

Rachel C

Going out of town.

2008-05-07T18:54:00.004+08:00

I'm going out of town tomorrow. I'm tagging along on one of Hubby's business trips again. Last month Bangkok this month; Clark! Or Manila depending on who you're talking to. We're flying into Clark as that's where the UPS office is, it's all on the old US base. I'm looking forward to getting some great pix and exploring the area. I'm also looking forward to writing. Yep, that's what I'm doing. No Internet, no phone, no kids, no anything! Just writing. Oh and reading, I can't go anywhere with a book! So the iPAQ is coming and as usual has about ten books on it. I'll have to decide which one to read first. I'm also taking Mari's latest wip to go over so that when I'm back late Saturday night (my time) I can send it off to her. I'll probably start my query letter and synopsis for On A Wing And A Prayer. Probably. I'm dreading it but it must be done.
Off to pack my bag.

A passport full of stamps is a wonderful thing!

Rachel C

Taking the necessary steps.

2008-05-05T10:31:00.002+08:00

Some things you need to do to further your writing career are easy and some are hard. For instance one thing a budding writer must decide is whether to go to the expense of having a website built before they're published. It can be a costly affair and time consuming as well. Me? I've got a file of photos, all taken by my family or me, that I'll be using when the time comes to build mine. Yes I have a domain name and you can even go there and you'll get a page that tells you where to find me at the moment. I've got a pretty good idea of what I want and I wish I could build it myself so I'd get exactly what I want. But the sad fact is I'm sooooo not computer friendly. I'd get exactly what I don't want if I tried to do it myself. So the decision to build before publication for has been put off and put off but now as I get closer I'm thinking it might be a good idea to get the ball rolling. It doesn't help when Devon gets to put her exciting news on her website that she's had since she made the decision to be a writer. And it really doesn't help when Mari sends out the exciting news that hers is finally up and running. So I'm starting this week. I'm putting it here so I'm accountable. But before we get to that let's get back to Mari's new site.

The link is in the sidebar but here it is as well; www.maricarr.com
Pop over there and have a look, it's so fresh looking, it's like looking at you favorite holiday pix. If you can leave her a message about what you thought. The best thing we get as writers is feedback. It's such a solitary life that we're not only thrilled with getting a message about how great you think we are but excited when it helps us make our writing or in this case, websites better.

Oh, and the verdict on On A Wing And A Prayer so far is favorable. I don't know whether to throw up or throw a party. (read have a drink)

Fear is only as big as we make it.

Rachel C

Not so scary.

2008-05-04T10:45:00.004+08:00

The first time I sent any of my work out into the world was for a competition, it was a few years ago now, but I remember that experience well. I also remember how it made me feel and what it did for my writing. I got the results and looking at the score sheet I appeared to have done okay, first time out there and I was in the middle of all the entries. Some judges wrote comments and others didn't. One was brilliant and I ended up working with her quite a few years later, but the other one is the one that got me. Oh, she/he was a great judge. With red pen in hand the judge took to my ms with enthusiasm. Obviously on a roll or getting carried away (who knows), not one page was left unmarked. But it was the final comment, in red pen, big capital letters.
THIS IS PORN! SEND IT TO PENTHOUSE!
Well. What can I say? To say it stopped the writing cold is an understatement. It blew the whole idea up! It took me months, yes months, to even look at anything again. Never mind actually write anything. I finally got up the nerve to look at this particular entry and ALL the judges comments, and do you know what I found? It was ONE opinion. The other judges didn't feel the same way about the piece, so I really took a look at the red pen comments. Now I'm not sure, but it's quite possible that said judge was having a bad day, or was even a NUN. One of the complaints was that I'd described, in great detail, the feel of the hero's tongue as it dueled with the heroine's. Now forgive me if I've got this wrong, and Hubby I do apologise for our 20 years together if I'm am, but isn't that a kiss? I was sure it was a kiss when I wrote it.
My point to this post is that even though I know I don't write 'porn', what I write is erotic and some people may view it that way. I'll also say that I don't just write 'erotic', although a lot of what I write would fall into the hotter side of romance. The bad thing is, that even though I know there are people that like the genre I write in, I still have this big horrible spectre living in my head that screams every time I send something to my CP. And when I'm doing edit/polish of a wip I always try to tone down the sex scenes. (I know, someone should slap me upside the head.) When a scene flows for me it goes quicker than I can type or write long hand, (which explains the funny little language I have in all my long hand work), and I'm in the moment, I don't worry about toning it down.
Yesterday at 2am, at least I think it was yesterday, maybe it was Friday? Can't remember, direct result of little to no sleep, thank you Hubby. Anyway, the second draft of On A Wing And A Prayer took to it's wings and flew off to visit with Devon and Mari. Devon has had the privilege of reading some of this already. Chapters 1-4 I think, but now she has the whole thing. It's the first baby to go out whole. And there's that little voice screaming in the back of my head. Sigh!
I'm told by some great writing friends (yes they're published) that it doesn't change. With every wip the same fears grab hold and squeeze you tight. Well, I'm feeling a little chocked and would really like a little breathing room, just a smidge. It's not helping with the sleep deprivation. I'm thinking that writing the book is the easy bit. It's the edit/polish, sending it to CP, edit/polish again, and then submitting it that's hard. Really hard! But I can't not write so I guess I have to face the fear and move on. Or as the kids would say, build a bridge and get over it! (aren't they brilliant?)
So I built the bridge and I'm over it but I can't help but look back. It's the fear, I might have left it behind but it's still there, just over my shoulder, waiting for my steps to falter so it can catch up again.

No snappy little saying today, instead I'm going to give you the link to the blog post that inspired the sharing of my fears. NJ Walters blogged at the Samhain blog today about fear and how it drives us. http://samhainpublishing.com/blog/2008/05/03/fear
Go over and check out her brilliant thoughts. The woman is a great writer and I'm privileged to be able to spend some time with her online in one of my egroups. The link to her website is in the sidebar so after you've been and read her post go check her and her books out. I dare you to come away without buying one.

Rachel C

P.S. Aforementioned ms is Dark Heat. Which is getting the edit/polish treatment soon. I'm determined to get it published just so I can blow a raspberry at aforementioned judge.

Harsh working conditions.

2008-05-02T15:51:00.003+08:00

Life's hard when you're forced to work under these conditions. This is my writing room, it's in our bedroom but I try not to think about having to share my space. The bookcase is overflowing as any good bookcase should be, the lounge is really comfy for lying back and reading, or editing. And view on a good day offers glimpses of Indonesia. The water between is the main 'road' for the ship in the area. And then of course there's the view of downstairs. As you can see my life isn't easy. LOL

Time for a change.

2008-04-30T08:37:00.003+08:00

Okay, so I'm trying to give this blog a new look and it's not working. Well, it is; just not the way I want it to. So don't be surprise if you come back and it's different. Again. Be patient with me while I go get some spray to get rid of all the bugs. There are a few changes to the sidebar but I think it works a little better. I like the new look, now if I could just get it to do exactly what I want.....
My new CP is working out great so far. I think I've got a big foot because I said she really needed to get her blog a little more happening and she has. Mari's just such a busy person that I think the blog was just one more thing to get to later. But if you're serious about being a writer you need to have a place where people can 'see' you. Whether that's reader, other authors or editors, you need people to be able to find you and info on what you've done, doing and planning to do.
I've made a special section in the sidebar just for my two wonderful CP's, who have both been doing such a wonderful job of kicking my butt this week with the edit/polish of On A Wing And A Prayer. (I need it.) Go over and check them out.
Mari has a new book coming out later in the year, but right now you can get Erotic Research from Samhain Publishing. (I've added some e-book publishers to the sidebar too) I'll let you know when we get the details of her next book. Oh, and any other great news she has.
Devon is busy writing her next book. Having her first contract does not mean she gets to rest. No, it's bum in seat, fingers on keyboard, madly getting the next book written. As soon as we have some news on a release date and cover for her first book I'll post it here.
Other than procrastinating, hence the new blog theme, I'm editing/polishing. LOL

There are two choices. You can make a living or you can design a life. - Jim Ruhn

Rachel C

Go Devon, go Devon, go Devon!

2008-04-26T21:30:00.002+08:00

Woohoooooo.......
Devon Gray got a contract!
The Wild Rose Press have offered Devon a contract for Addicted. The book is great as you know because I already blogged about it, but now everyone will know about it. Obviously she having trouble breathing but once she stops hyperventilating I'll get all the details. It'll take a while before we know when it'll be released or get a cover but you can guarantee you'll see it here. Pop over to see her blog and have a read of her Squeeeeee post. www.authordevongray.blogspot.com

Oooo.... I have a new friend!

2008-04-23T22:19:00.002+08:00

Okay, so I've got heaps of friends and probably don't need another one to play with but this one is special. And no I did not replace the Hubby! On the Samhaincafe loop the other day the question of critique partners came up, not having a dedicated one I kept an eye on things. Yes I have Devon but she had Bev before me and I'm a third wheel, which is good because the more opinions the better, well not too many but you get what I mean. So I still have Devon but I really need to find myself a front row CP. So as usual, not back in coming forward I started trying to find a web address for this particular author. Couldn't find one. What to do, what to do? I know, I'll be real polite (no comments from the peanut gallery) and email her off loop, I didn't want to through the loop because, well not sure of the rules on that one. Off went my lonely little email. Bye, bye. Damn I hope I did the right thing! Then someone yelled dinner and well I had to eat, we'd walked the whole of China Town today. Of course the minute I'm finished I'm back at the computer and damn if dinner isn't going to make another appearance because there a return email. Nervously I open it up. Fingers shaking, you know I've suddenly come to the conclusion that I might need resuscitation if I ever get a book contract. And what does the email say?
"You've made my day!"
What?!?!
I've made her day? OMG! She's keen to try. Which let me explain, is what happens when looking for a CP, you have to try to see if you fit. Some people just aren't going to work well together while others are better than chocolate dipped strawberries. We've exchanged a little info about ourselves in these two emails so I closed my eyes, held my nose and dove right in. I sent her some of Heartthrob. Well all of it, there ain't much to it yet, but as I said we need to try each other out so we start slow and go from there. Mind you I just popped over to her blog and I have to say I like so far. I like a lot. Anyway, we'll see what happens and I'll keep you posted and how I feel about the process. I mean I'm not real good at sharing my writing, I'm getting better but I need to get even better. Actually, I think I have because I didn't even blink when I sent Heartthrob over.
By now you're wondering who this person is and I think I'll put you out of your misery. (This bits scary because she's already got her first book out there!) Her name is Mari Carr and her first book came out last month at Samhain Publishing (I can't even remember if there's a link on the sidebar so here it is anyway www.samhainpublishing.com/ ) Look for Erotic Research, oh bugger it, here's the link to the actual book; http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/erotic-research
Go check it out, I missed it when it came through FAR, wasn't quick enough. I tell ya you would think being an Angel would help me get what I want but nooooo.... sometimes the feathers fly!
Okay, it's getting late and Hubby just turned the lights off. I think it's a hint.

You can never have too many friends.

Rachel C

Finally here!

2008-04-22T11:10:00.002+08:00

Finally! It's taken me a few days but I'm back. We got back from Bangkok last Friday but with the kids all coming in from school camps, Corki's 14th birthday, Tim getting his braces on and the hamsters breeding while we were away I've been flat out. I won't mention the 387 emails I came back to or the end of month madness at FAR. I've blogged about Bangkok over at www.rachelcharlton.wordpress.com head over and check it out. I'm definitely heading back to Bangkok at some stage, need to do research. I love the way that inspiration strikes when you least expect it. I'm not going into detail because it's still floating around in my head and other than a couple of notes the idea isn't quite fully formed yet. I'll let you know when it does.
Devon still hasn't heard from the editor but they asked for revisions, which she did and sent back at the end of last week so hopefully in the next few days I'll be able to tell you more. I've got all my fingers and toes crossed but I don't think she needs it. If TWRP aren't interested someone else will be.
Not much in the way of writing but I have been reading for me, yay, and of course reviewing. End of month this week so things are a bit frantic and I'd neglected a couple of books, naughty me. So the last couple of days has been reading and reviewing. It's tough, but someones got to do it. LOL
Later I'll be putting a blog on the new group blog I'm a member of www.writeinjune.blogspot.com and I'll be doing some of my own writing. About bloody time! I swear these people don't shut up and if they do there's always someone else waiting to have their say.

We all know our ideas can be crazy, but are they crazy enough? - Kobi Yamada

Rachel C

Heading away for a few days.

2008-04-15T21:51:00.002+08:00

I'm going out of town with Hubby for a few days. Not sure what my Internet access will be like so I thought I'd quickly catch you up on the writing before I go.
In the last two days I've pumped out over 4,000 words on Flash Point. A lot I've done in word sprints with my cyber-buddies Sandie and Diane. We have so much fun working 15 or 30 minute sprints and before you know it your word count is screaming along.
I plan to take lots of pix while I'm away so I'll blog some when I get back.
Don't do anything I wouldn't do while I'm gone.

Make the most of every minute, they're all precious.

Rachel C

Thank you.

2008-04-14T09:46:00.002+08:00

I wanted to say thank you to all who wished me well with this latest health issue I've had to address. I'm pleased to tell you all that even though I'm not out of the woods yet I'm walking along a clearly marked path and the weather is good, we're equipped with all the necessary gear if it turns bad. At this point it's a watch and wait scenario.
So things have been busy on a personal front, we've got three kids heading of to school camps this week, two have already gone, and I'm heading to Bangkok for three days to visit a friend and her 1 year old daughter. I haven't seen Jade since she was 6 months old so I'm looking forward to that, oh, plus the shopping. Ann always knows the best places to shop.
I've been reading and reviewing and I finished with the judging last week so on Saturday I took some time to read a book I'd actually bought! I can't remember when the last book I read was one I'd purchased. Anyway, I read Discovering Dani by NJ Walters, (her website is in the sidebar) it's the first in her Jamesville series. I have the others and there's a new one coming out soon so of course I'll be buying that. I loved it, I wanted to start the next one straight away but I couldn't find it on the PC. Talk about panic mode. I even went into my account at My Bookstore and More to see if I'd really bought it, I had so the search was on. I found it this morning. On the laptop. Not sure how it missed going onto the USB or how it missed being transferred to the PC. I think I'll start it later today, after I do some writing.
Speaking of writing, I've been involved with some wonderful Aussie writers since last years Nano and we thought we might like to get together and do our own writing challenge, so Rachael asked who would like to join us and at last count there's about 30 of us. Which reminds me, we named out challenge. 50ks in 30 days. Yeah, we're heading for the magical 50,000 words in a month, we're doing it in June. Which for me might be a bit of a problem because the 14th is my 20th wedding anniversary and Hubby and I are off to a tropical island resort for a honeymoon, and before anyone says don't you mean second honeymoon, no! We never had a honeymoon. So we'll be going on our honeymoon. Back to the June challenge, we've started a blog, www.writeinjune.blogspot.com and if you're keen to join us pop over there and leave a comment. We'll be leaving interesting posts and some of our seasoned Nano participants are going to drop buy and tell us about their experiences.
My own writing is going well, I've had a new character pop up, never good when the bus is already so crowded but she's caught in a very interest situation and her story needs to be told. Flash Point is coming along well and I'll update some word counts after this.
Well back to get some writing done so I can reward myself with NJ's next book.

Wide-awake, I can make my most fantastic dreams come true. - Lorentz Hart

Rachel C

Great news!

2008-04-11T08:11:00.002+08:00

If you read my last post you'll know my good Buddie Devon has been playing with a publisher. Well, no more playing! It's now serious. The Wild Rose Press have requested the full MS! YAY!!!
Excuse me while I dance around the room.
Right, so what does this mean? First she has to send the full MS, then she has to wait again. Yeah, lots of waiting in the publishing game. Anyway, this request is NOT a contract. But it does mean that they really liked Addicted. Woohooo.... Told you it was good. After she sends the MS and waits, she'll either get a thanks but no thanks, OOOORRRR, a contract!!!!!
This so exciting and it's not even me! I'm a basket case for her imagine what I'll be like when it's my turn.
I'll keep you posted.

Getting in on the ground floor.

2008-04-05T16:42:00.002+08:00

I've had the pleasure of reading a MS by my best Cyber-Buddie Devon Gray. Addicted is a piece she started out of no where and couldn't stop. I'm so glad she couldn't. I remember her being a little concerned by it as the style is different to her norm and getting to read the first bit to give her my opinion. I think I may have threaten bodily harm if she didn't keep going. Good thing too, Addicted was finished the other day and Devon sent it over. I think if this is not Devon's normal style she needs to rethink her style cause this thing rocks! Yep. It's hot and deep an such a great read. She's already had an editor friend have a look and she agrees with me on the rocking score. Once it's been read through and all spelling/grammar errors removed Devon will be sending it off to a publisher. It's gonna sell. There's no way they'll let this thing get away. I can't wait to see it up on a website, whether Devon's or the publishers, it won't matter. I love Devon to pieces but right now I think I hate her. LOL I've said from the beginning she'd be published and now I have to follow it up with getting published as well. It's kind of like a lucky charm thing. She gets published, I get published. I get published, she gets published. So now one of us is that much closer the other one has to put her head down and bum in the hot seat and follow.
Damn! She's gonna be a hard act to follow.

Growing old gracefully.

2008-04-03T18:28:00.001+08:00

You know I'm a firm believer in growing old gracefully, none of this plastic surgery or miracle turn back the clock creams for me. No sir. But you know if my body throws one more getting old thing at me I just might throw it out the 11th floor window. Only knowing my luck I'd bloody survive! A week ago last Monday Hubby and I toddled off to the doctors for these youbutesuperdooper health checks. Now we know I have the bone thing going on and the little trip to the hospital last year for the stomach thing, well now it seems I've got a female plumbing thing going on as well. I know, everyone's cringing, no one wants to hear about my plumbing problems. I'm with ya, I don't want to hear about it either. I've no plans to go into details I just wanted to explain where I'd been the last week. So back to Monday week ago, off we go having eaten nothing from the night before, or had a morning cuppa. I have to say right there is where the problem is. No morning cuppa!!! So off we go, we get weighed, measured, poked, prodded, listened to and drained of enough blood to feed a vampire colony for a month. They were nice enough to feed us breakfast, mind you it was the least they could offer. So Hubby comes out and well we all know he's got weight issues, only now the doctor says, 'you've got weight issues' and he's listening more carefully. The doc says everything looks good for me make your follow up appointment before you leave. So we make our appointment for the 24th April. There I am in my own little world, started the multi-vitamins the doc recommended and I'm feeling good. Until Thursday. That's when my little world imploded. The nice receptionist asked if I could come in to see the doctor next week because of some of my results. Sure, when. Thursday. End of phone call. What?!?! What results? What's wrong? What can't wait two extra weeks? Now for those that haven't got the picture yet, I'm a writer! I write fiction, that's made up stuff. I have a very good imagination. The damn thing went wild. I've spent the last week locked inside my own head and I have to tell you, it's scary in there! Basically I closed all the windows, drew the blinds and sat in the dark corner of my mind where no bad things could get me. Well, no more than were already in there anyway. The upshot is I have significant cell changes and need to see a specialist. Cell changes for me would come under significant so when the doctor says they're significant changes what the hell does that mean? Cause for me I'm thinking things are gonna have to come out. I don't want any changes, I don't need any changes! GET THEM OUT!! But noooo, it just means another doctor who will look into it further, charge me more money and then probably tell me I'm okay, lets just watch and see what happens. But I'm getting ahead of myself again and that bloody imagination is tearing off down the road and hitting all the potholes. So I'm taking a breath and going with the everything is fine because when I get to the specialist next Friday, (yes a whole week away) I'm going to say take it out! I don't care what you say, I'm finished with it and changes are significant, significant changes suck!I digress again, this post was meant to tell you all where I'd been, so close your eyes and imagine the worst kind of hell you can think of and you'll find me in the corner. But now the doctor has opened a blind and let in some light things don't look so scary and I'm hopping up and opening the rest of the blinds today, and tomorrow I just might throw open the windows too.

Go on. I dare ya!

2008-04-03T16:26:00.002+08:00

Go over to my other writing blog and check out the great post on never taking yourself too seriously. S.J. Willing is a futuristic erotic romance writer who had an interest answer to a reader question on one of the loops I belong to. Pop over to www.rachelcharlton.wordpress.com and check it out.

Laughter is the best medicine and I needed some today so when S.J. had me cracking up I had to share.

Rachel C

How did I get here and why do I keep going?

2008-04-02T18:16:00.001+08:00

How did I get here and why do I keep going?
It’s an interesting question and one I’m not sure I can answer well. You see I don’t know how I got here. Well I know how I got here, there’s my mum and my dad, and well you get the picture. I’m talking about how I became a writer and I’ll be honest, I haven’t got a clue. I’ve always done it. Whether stories, poetry or just random thoughts, I’ve always written. Now the question of how I decided that’s what I’d be when I grew up is confusing. I don’t recall making the decision, ever. But here I am tapping away at the keys of my computer and writing with pen and paper. Always. And if I’m not writing I’m thinking about writing. I’m always thinking. That explains why I don’t sleep very well and why I’m always tired, so why am I still here and why do I keep going? I guess it comes back to the always writing and thinking. At the risk of sounding insane, there are just too many people in my head. They’ve got to come out or I’ll be pulling out my hair and heading for the alcohol. I can be doing anything when scenes start rolling in my head, that’s what it’s like, I’ll suddenly have front row seats to someone else’s life. I don’t plan; in fact when I try to plan those pesky characters never go along with me. I’m sure they do it on purpose. I guess the answer to why I’m still here is that I can’t not be here. It’s who I am and what I do and whether it ever leads me to publication remains to be seen but even if it doesn’t I’ll still be here. Writing. And even when life throws things at me that make me want to quit I know I’d never be able to because I’ll never be able to stop writing. I stopped for years when the kids were young and as soon as I started again it was like an avalanche, pouring out of me. Most of it was crap and will never find its way out of the bottom draw but it was the beginning of what was to be my trip down the publication road. The road is bumpy, has detours, potholes and all sorts of debris lying on it but I keep going. Through rain, hail, sleet and snow, and of course the wonderful sunshine. Even when I feel like I’m carrying the weight of the world and dragging my feet I keep going because no matter what gets in the way or what I have to carry with me the dream is always there. And without that dream I wouldn’t be me.

Keep you dreams alive. They're who you are.

Rachel C

I've been quiet.

2008-03-24T16:01:00.002+08:00

Aren't you shocked? I know, you've been hanging out to see what's going on. Well, not much. No I lie. I've been so busy with end of month at FAR, reading the books for the competition and trying to fit in writing that I'm in need of oxygen. So for FAR I've done three reviews and umpteen pre-edits. I've read and judged three books. Plus I've managed to get 1,372 words written on Flash Point. I know not much writing but I only managed two hours. Remember everything I've just mentioned has happened since last Thursday morning, I think I've done rather well considering.
Once April is here I'll have all the competition books read and judged so that will free up some time for some personal reading. You know I sometimes wish I had more time to read without have to write a review or fill out a score sheet but then I remember what I'm like when I'm just reading for myself and I know it's a good thing I've got something to slow me down. I know I can get a bit obsessive.
I'm planning on some time down by the pool with a good book and maybe a drink once April arrives. Sure I'll still have FAR books to review but I don't have to do them every day, I can just do two a week. That should give me time for writing and personal reading. My TBR (to be read) pile is almost at the ceiling! Well not really, I've got about twenty e-books on the PC but then there's about 80 paperbacks to get through. sigh There really does need to be more hours in the day.
Don't forget to pop over to my other blog at http://www.rachelcharlton.wordpress.com/ to see what's over there.

Too many books, not enough time. Or money!

Rachel C

On a high.

2008-03-20T11:54:00.002+08:00

First, don't forget to visit me here:- www.rachelcharlton.wordpress.com
I'm still really excited about finishing On A Wing And A Prayer and I'm using that as the excuse for not updating you on my Sven efforts properly. So yesterday was a great big 4,331 words. Taking my Sven total to 12,490 words. Pretty cool. But I'm not letting things slide because I've done so well, nooo.... I'm moving over to Flash Point with some really great scenes rolling through my head. Hope everyone is having as much luck as me with their writing.

Nurture your mind with great thoughts. - Benjamin Disraeli

Rachel C

OMG!

2008-03-19T21:09:00.002+08:00

I know I said I was heading off to get some writing done but I had no idea how much I meant. I've updated the word count and as of now On A Wing And A Prayer is finished. Sure there's the last few pages and then the edit and polish, but IT'S FINISHED!!!
I'm so excited by it. It's a good feeling to know they're riding off into the sunset for their happily ever after. Goodbye and good luck. You're gonna need it. The hard part is just about to begin. I'll keep you posted of their journey.

Rachel C

Can I breathe now?

2008-03-19T09:23:00.002+08:00

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

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

Rachel C

Getting serious.

2008-03-13T18:46:00.002+08:00

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

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

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

Rachel C

Sven update.

2008-03-10T13:56:00.002+08:00

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

Forsake all inhibitions. Pursue thy dreams! - Walt Whitman

Rachel C

More new toys.

2008-03-08T22:32:00.000+08:00

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

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

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

Rachel C

Going great.

2008-03-06T15:00:00.002+08:00

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

Let the words flow.

Rachel C

Sven update.

2008-03-05T21:37:00.003+08:00

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

Life is short, make every moment count.

Rachel C

Movie review.

2008-02-27T16:22:00.000+08:00

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

Rachel C

The best of Plans.

2008-02-24T11:12:00.002+08:00

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

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

Rachel C

I've been TAGGED!!!

2008-02-21T10:27:00.003+08:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tag, you're it!

Rachel C

Birthday pressie.

2008-02-19T12:10:00.002+08:00

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

Life. Love it! Live it!

Rachel.C

No dieting allowed.

2008-02-18T09:23:00.000+08:00

Outside our room, which was on the 32nd floor, the atrium was full of all these lights, it was an amazing sight. We made our way to dinner where I got a rose and a bottle of Pure Poison perfume. The meal was seven courses of the most amazing tasting food, oh, except for the fried ducks liver which Chris said was like eating a wet sponge. How he'd know what a wet sponges was like is something I'm not even going to ask.

This is our breakfast tray. Delivered to our room. Underneath is our cooked to order bacon, eggs, muffins, toast, pastries, hashbrowns and grilled tomatoes. It's a wonder we didn't roll out of there on Saturday. When I won I was told it was valued at over $900 Singapore but we did a little calculating and with the room, dinner, champagne and breakfast it was more like $1500. The room alone is worth $1000 a night! And people live like this all the time! It was a fantastic night and because we don't do things like this very often, well, never, it was even more fantastic.

It's a whole different world!

2008-02-18T09:09:00.000+08:00

This is the room we stayed in at the Pan Pacific hotel Singapore. Actually make that rooms. If the lounge/dinning room wasn't enough the bedroom was just as big and I was a bit scared I'd never find Chris in that bed! The champagne and strawberries on arrival were very nice and we managed to enjoy them before having to get ready for dinner.

Off for some serious pampering!

2008-02-15T09:22:00.002+08:00

Tonight's the night!
Yes, Hubby and I are off to enjoy my prize. We're going later this afternoon and won't be back until after lunch tomorrow. I'm having my hair done later today so I look put together for our lovely candlelit dinner for two. I still don't know what to wear, I'll probably just throw something on at the last minute. Fashion conscious I'm not! But I will make an effort. Eventually.
I haven't done nearly enough work this week because I've been busy playing with my new toy, which still isn't hooked to the net and I've just loaded office onto it so now I can upload all my files. I got the printer hooked up and the PDA. Oh, and the wireless mouse is fantastic! I love it. I usually get the mouse cord all tangled up, now I won't have to worry.
So, I'm out of here. Gotta pack. Something? I know, I know, it's only overnight, but I hate not having all my stuff with me because I know I'll get there and think damn should have brought such and such with me. Oh well, as long as I take clothes and PJ's we'll be fine. Yes I've been known to go places without PJ's before. I know it's a romantic get away for two what could I possible need PJ's for? Did you forget about the breakfast in bed bit? I'm sure we don't want to be scaring and poor roomservice people.
Okay, really am going now.

Love is an everyday thing.

Rachel.C

SVEN is back!!

2008-02-12T10:41:00.000+08:00

Woohoo...
Sven is here again.
Beginning March 1st 70 days of sweat with Sven is on again. And the Sven sure knows how to make you sweat. So if you're up for the challenge head on over and sign up.
http://70daysofsweat.com/wordpress/
The sponsors are back again and already the names are stacking up. Last time I pretty much lurked but this time I'm in for everyday interaction. Plus with the new PC I'm all set for some serious word count totals. I just have a couple of weeks to get used to the new system and then it's full steam ahead. Now I have added incentive to get On A Wing And A Prayer finished before the end of Feb. I'll need to be ready for Sven.
So who's up for the challenge?
Rachel C

Too busy to blog?

2008-02-12T08:29:00.001+08:00

Things have been busy. First, last week was Chinese New Year so the kids had Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off, Chris had Thursday and Friday, so we've had a bit of a holiday. We stayed home and just hung around the pool, on Friday night we had a last minute BBQ with a group of Aussie families living here in our condo. It was a great night and for the second time in less than a week I had a bottle of champagne. Gotta say I'm getting a little worried about how easy it is to drink a whole bottle. Anyway, it was a great time and we're planning to do it again.
Saturday we went to the home of Chris' boss and were introduced into the culture in a big way. On Chinese New Year you're supposed to give out little red envolopes with money in them to all the single people. The money has to be new notes and in even numbers. The kids grumbled and groaned for three days about going but when we got home and they counted up their little red envelopes they were asking when were we going to the next place. They ended up with $74! Each! I think Chinese New Year is a hit.
I spent some time writing even with the kids and Chris around, I actually managed to get a few things sorted out. I'll update the word count some time today. We're getting close to the end now and things are a little tricky, especially now that the 'big' secret has popped its head out of the box. Trey hasn't quite worked it out but he's not far off. I was planning for the secret to be revealed just before the black moment but as usual it's not my decision and I don't have my hands on the wheel. I'm just along for the ride.
On Saturday and Sunday I had organised to take part in an online workshop. The thing was it was based in the US so time zones kind of got in the way. When I was awake they were asleep and vice versa. Luckily it was done in a forum so the time zones didn't affect it too much. I still learnt plenty and got some really great resource material, plus there were quite a few published authors attending as well so I took the opportunity to ask questions.
Monday morning and everyone was back to school and work and I had peace and quiet again. Chris came home early so I thought oh oh, bad day. I of course was in the middle of finishing a review but for some reason because I'm sitting in the house no one thinks I'm actually working so they just start talking like I'm sitting there waiting for them to come home. I was getting a little cranky with him when he asked if I had much more to read before I was finished. I really wanted to tell him to POQ but being the good wife I put the book down and said okay what? He wanted to show me something. Show me something? Jeez the man can be annoying, but I went along with him anyway. Yes I had to leave the lounge in our room where I was comfortable but hey, it's best to give in and then they leave you alone, right? So I follow him to the lounge room when he starts carrying on about it not being a very valentine's type present but it's to show his support of me in my aim to be published, plus it's an investment for his 'kept man retirement' and I'm thinking the man has lost it completely. Finally after all the years in the high stressed job his poor little brain has up and left the building. He's pointing to these two big boxes like he's the best thing since sliced bread and I'm looking at them wondering what the hell he's getting at. But then I took a closer look.
OH MY GOD!!!!
It's a PC!!
He's bought me a brand new PC!
I now have on my desk, not that I've got it all worked out yet and we have to get the thingy to hook it to the internet, but it's sitting there on my desk all shiny and new. Plus it's from Dell so it's a custom order or something and he's gonna go through it all with me later. It will apparently be really fast and it has so much memory that I won't have to worry about keeping all our photos on a back up device and pulling it out whenever I want to use any. I still think he's gone a little mad because it didn't take nearly as much nagging as it usually does. I think it might have helped that we had to do the crash and rebuild of my laptop the other week and it's better now but still has some interesting issues. The only problem is it's got vista and I'm on XP plus I'll have to get used to word 2007 which is different from 2003 and I only just got the hang of that! But who cares, I got a new PC!
Things will be a little quiet while I work out what's what and get myself organised, again. I still hope to get On A Wing And A Prayer finished in the next few days then it's polish/edit and submit. (scary) I still have my laptop, and believe me it's a laptop at the moment. Once I've got the internet on the PC things should be a lot easier.
Now I'm off to work out how to transfer files and things. Should be fun. NOT! You know me, not very computer savvy but I'm learning.

Excercise, stretch the mind as well as your muscles, learn something new.

Rachel C

Movie review.

2008-02-04T21:13:00.000+08:00

I couldn't decided which movie to watch so Chris picked. Blue Smoke was the winner. I loved this book when I read it. Twice. I have to say that as usual there was so much in the book that was missing from the movie. Par for the course though with any movie based on a book. So there we were in bed watching Blue Smoke on Chris' laptop. It wouldn't work in the Aussie DVD player but worked a treat in the laptop. For those that haven't seen it and might or those that haven't read it but might, I'll try not to reck it for you. As well as missing pieces, none of which detracted from the movie at all, there were a couple of minor story changes. Very minor. And as Chris pointed out it was a bit predictable, mind you, he said this in the last 15 mins of the movie. I knew the story so yes it was predictable to me, but over all it was well made and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Remembering that this was made for TV, it was very well done. Sure it lacked some of the special effects magic of big budget Hollywood movies but it was still worth watching. Even if you're not a fan of Nora Roberts you'd enjoy this film. But if like me you're a big fan then get yourself a copy.
The information on how to buy them is on the Nora Roberts website. www.noraroberts.com
You'll have to come back and see which one I watch next. I'm thinking Angels Fall. Not tonight though, it's late and the kids have got to be up early for school. They've got the rest of the week off for Chinese New Year so we won't need to be in bed too early.

Rachel.C

Check out the birthday stash.

2008-02-03T13:29:00.000+08:00

Check out all my goodies. I'm getting spoilt today.
Rachel.C

Happy Birthday to Me.

2008-02-03T11:42:00.000+08:00

So far I've had the best birthday. I got a cup of tea in bed (always a good thing), when the kids finally got up I got some pressies. Now I knew about the Nora Roberts DVD's but they were still very exciting. I've been dropping hints about new sunnies ever since I wore a friends ones. Sooo, I got a new pair of Maui Jim sunnies. They look really cool and go great with the new haircut. Then I had another pressie to open that was about as big as my thumb, but when I opened it there was only a piece of paper inside. It was no help, all it said was 'yes you're going'. Going? Going where? Then Chris handed me some tickets. Oh my god! Santana! I'm going to see Santana! I had no idea he was coming to Singapore. How Chris managed to keep this a secret is beyond me. I think he's kept about three in the whole time we've been together. So the rest of the day I'm going to laze around doing nothing, I can't decide which Nora DVD to watch so I might need to get one of the kids to choose. I've just got back from having a massage and I'm so relaxed it's a wonder I can sit in the chair to type. Besides the celebration fireworks I've included a photo of me and the girls that was taken on Friday when we had lunch. For those a little confused by the lack of hair I'm the one in the middle. LOL. Gotta love birthdays!
Rachel.C

Sharing some pix.

2008-01-31T10:46:00.000+08:00

I just thought I'd quickly share these pix with you guys. They're off a much younger me and my Grandparents. You all know that my Grandma died at the beginning of the year and Grandad has been gone for almost 12 years now. I was updating our family blog and I put these photos on there and thought you might like to see 'em too, cause there's only a few of you that have access to the family blog and I don't advertise it here. Just not comfortable sharing it with the world. Young kids and all. So these were taken when I was about 3 or 4 not sure which, we found them in Grandma's photos.

Re-working the WIP

2008-01-28T20:20:00.000+08:00

Okay, the smart ones will have noticed the word counter on the sidebar has changed. It had to. Since Trey and Lana are tearing down the road to the big ending I had to re-think the word count and look at some things that didn't need to be in shorter book. So I've dropped about 8,000 words. All stuff that just bogged the damn thing down, (well, that's what I'm telling myself) it's hard to let those words go but they need to go. The word count now stands at 20,034, with 6 and a half chapters and over 90 pages, I'm taking a break because they're having an intimate moment and I..., oh all right, they're having sex, hot steamy sex that quite frankly just got a little too much for me. There's nothing worse than getting caught up in the moment and missing something. So they're, umm..., well they're enjoying themselves while I cool off a bit and finish playing with my new toy. Yep, I got a new toy, it's a big old white board, with my very own set of magic markers. It's covered with all the stuff I need to remember about my pair. You know, so when Lana starts talking about the Horde I can just look up and remind myself what she's talking about. I love it. I've even put a running word count total on it, how many pages in each chapter, that kind of thing. I've got three days to finish to make my goal and with Hubby away and the kids at school I think I'll make it. Plus, I want the weekend off because, gasp! it's my birthday on Sunday. Guess what I got? Everyone that knows me knows how much I love Nora Roberts, and the lifetime channel in the US made four of her books into telemovies.
I GOT THE DVD's!!!!!!!
Woohoo......
Now I know the kids and Chris are gonna hate me but I'm watching at least one on Sunday. It's my birthday and that's what I want to do. I can't wait, I know Nora was pleased with the way they turned out so I don't think they'll done damage to the stories, don't you just hate it when they make a book into a movie and kill it? For the curious the movies are: Montana Sky, Carolina Moon, Angels Fall and Blue Smoke. All the books were great so hopefully the movies will be too. I'll let you know.
Okay back to the book, see where Trey and Lana are now. Hopefully there still where I left them, but then I should know by now that anything goes with this pair.
Hope everyone has a great week.

I'm not getting old just more experienced.

Rachel C

WINNER!!!!!

2008-01-26T13:34:00.000+08:00

Before I left for Sydney last year I sent off an entry in a competition, I actually sent it from the airport. So yesterday I'm doing emails and I see one from Expat Living magazine and I think, what are they putting on now?! They're always sponsoring some fair or show or something, so I thought I won't bother with it now, I'll look later (as in tomorrow, maybe). Yes, you can kick me for being slack, I've already kicked myself. I kept going for about another three hours, I was reviewing and I got caught up in the book, sue me. I went back to my emails because as you know my cyber-friend and author (do you like the way I plugged knowing an author?) Nicole Austin (plugging Nicole now, website link on the side) was having a fun time with her bookmarks, which she's sending one to me, anyway, I actually looked at the subject.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Huh!
Curiosity got the better of me, I know curiosity killed the cat but this time the cat got cream!
Hot damn, I won that competition!
Yep, that's me the winner!
So here's what I got:-
An overnight stay for two in the newly renovated Pan Pacific Singapore, breakfast in bed, champagne and strawberries, and a specially-prepared candlelit dinner at Global Kitchen - which the chef promises, will make use of plenty of aphrodisiacal ingredients to get you both in the mood! Also a door gift, flute of champagne each and a rose. Total prize valued at over $900 Singapore dollars!
It's for the month of Feb which besides having valentine's day in it also has my birthday. How cool is that? So now we have to work out when Chris is away so we can decide when to go. I can't wait. I've never won anything this good before, well, personally, I did win the critique from Amie Stuart but I put that in a different ball park.
So as much as these last few months have been bad, they've also been good. Hopefully this is a sign of more good things to come.

You've got to be in it to win it!

Rachel.C

Bad Customer Service!

2008-01-25T10:03:00.000+08:00

Leaving the hot seat for an important news flash.
DON'T BUY ANYTHING FROM:
Print Place (I'm not even telling you the website)

They're in the US and a cyber-friend of mine has just been royally shafted by them. No, not that kind of shafting, jeez people get your minds out of the gutter. No poor Nicole was so excited when her new bookmarks finally arrived from the printers that she was telling anyone that would listen. Imagine her complete horror when she examined them more closely and found that one side was shiny and one not. Even worse, the shiny side was the back, and all those lovely (read hot) pix on the front were flat and dull! And it gets worse! When she emailed the company to tell them they'd stuffed up, because they had, who wants dull, flat pix of hunky men?, they called her and explained that that's the way the bookmarks come out, one side shiny the other not. So Nicole says, well fine, but the wrong side it shiny!
Reply - Oh, we can't predict what side will be shiny.
WHAT THE?????
How could they not know which side would turn out shiny? Forgive me for being ignorant of the printing world, but surely it's a matter of which way the paper goes in the machine? No?
Okay, so we're all having a rant about this because they refuse to fix the problem. Well, judging by they're reply, they don't know how to fix it.
So, pass the word along, tell every author you know and every writing or reading group you belong to. Actually, anyone that gets stuff printed.
DON'T BUY FROM PRINT PLACE (website not provided)
Well, I'm getting back to the hot seat, and Nicole, lovely as she is, says we can have a bookmark if we want, even thought she hates them, so I'm off to her goodies page to get me some great free stuff. You should check it out.
http://nicoleaustin.wordpress.com/goodies/

Always check the fine print, actually, no don't, the damn printer might have left it off!

Rachel.C

Hot seat update.

2008-01-23T09:50:00.000+08:00

First day back went well. Another chapter done. The words were flowing well up til then, but when I finished it hit me. It's ending! This novel isn't going to make it, I had such high hopes for the word count only to find that Trey and Lana have other ideas. I should have known something was up when they hopped into bed so quickly. So now I have a Novella. I've never thought of writing one before, don't ask why, it just never crossed my mind to write that few words to tell a story. But now that I have I'm actually quite intrigued by the idea. I'm a bit impatient when it comes to stories, which is probably why I'm a speed reader, you know, have to get to the end. So why has this never come up in my writing before? It's quick and just think how many more you could get done. I guess because I'd always been looking at the print market and Harlequin in particular, I was never really exposed to this length before. Don't get me wrong it's not that short, but it'll definitely be shorter than any other story I'm working on. come to think of it a couple of my wip's would be better suited to a smaller word count. I'm going to have to take a closer look at the shorter length and see where it takes me.
Anyway, there's probably another couple of chapters to go before Trey and Lana see there HEA, so I better get back there. They're about to have a big black moment, and Trey's gonna be pissed when he finds out Lana has the keys to the car he's trying to drive.

Don't let something pass you by because you're too set in your ways.

Rachel.C

Back In The Hot Seat.

2008-01-21T12:39:00.000+08:00

Okay, back to work today. I'm just popping in to post my goals for the next couple of months.

January - Finish On A Wing And A Prayer.

February - Polish/edit On A Wing And A Prayer.
- Submit On A Wing And A Prayer.

March - Polish/edit finished 60,000 ms and submit.

(can some one pass me a bucket please, I think I'm going to be sick!)

I'll also continue to read and review for FAR plus add to the many wip's I have going at the moment.

Other than the submitting part I'm actually quite excited about my goals, I think they're very attainable and I'm looking forward to finding out how Trey and Lana get on. Well, I kind of know already but my characters often take a look at where I'm driving, hijack the car and head in the direction they want.

You might remember my post about paying it forward and the little comp that author Amie Stuart was running, well, I won that so I got to choose to have critique of 30 pages or she'd pay for a workshop or course up to $30. I've chosen the critique, so this morning I sent her the first 30 pages of On A Wing And A Prayer. (God, I really need that bucket.) Plus the lovely Devon is still on board as my CP and she's great because she's really good at spelling and grammar and I suck. Big time. I'm looking forward to seeing what Amie has to say, having Devon's input is great but having an actual published author look at it? (Damn! Where's that bucket????) Remembering this is the piece that got down to the bottom 25 of the Karin Tabke One Line comp. Amie did check it out then so she's seen the first few lines already, but now she's got two whole chapters plus a couple of pages, I think, I can't remember now. I'm really nerves about it. But I'd like to give a big THANK YOU to AMIE STUART for giving me this opportunity.

I did some reviewing before Christmas for author Nicole Austin and was so excited when she emailed me to say thank you. We got to chatting and I joined her yahoo group TandA_Fantasy Playground. She's also part of The Hussies. Please be warned, neither of these groups is for anyone that may get offended by things of sexually explicit nature. There are no-holds-barred on either site as all the authors write in the erotic genre. Nicole has been great in answering some questions I've had about the e-pub market and she's even offered to read my wip. This from a multi-published author who has plenty of writing of her own to do. I am still waiting for the next in her Corralled series.

I'm having so much fun getting to know all these wonderful woman. They're so generous with their time and advise and without them and other authors like them us newbies would be wondering around in the dark. So another big THANK YOU to NICOLE AUSTIN.

In the next few weeks I'm going to be busy with writing so to keep myself form going insane I'll be checking in regularly with updates and a new list of wonderful author websites. Until next time, be safe, be happy but most of all be grateful you're alive.

Remind those you love how you feel, yes they probably know but it's so nice to here it said.

Rachel.C

Thank you.

2008-01-19T18:56:00.000+08:00

Thanks to all who commented on my last blog. Things are a little depressing in this neck of the woods and after have my own health scare last year I was thinking things would be going well from then on. Only life doesn't work that way. Everything is in continuous motion and nothing remains the same. My Grandmother's death was in many ways a blessing, she was tired of being sick and trapped in her house and she'd always been such an independent woman, always prided herself on looking good. She even told my mother that if her grey roots were showing when she died to get some one to die them. It wasn't until her funeral that I found out she drove trucks for the army in WWII, she'd lied about her age to get in, maybe that was a sign of how tough she was, after all, she did have emphysema for 15 years and was on oxygen almost as long, the woman should be the symbol for tough. After much internal debate I'm now okay with her death, I think because I've spent the last year living in Singapore I was feeling a little guilty but I think she'd be pissed at me if she knew that so I'm giving myself the okay to move on.
So, to my Dad, he's out of hospital and eating and drinking again. The last I heard he was almost back to his old self. I still don't know the full story, what with having to pack up and come back to Singapore, so I'll be ringing him soon to get the whole tale.
Well, the kids start back at school on Monday which means I'm back in the hot seat. Yes, things are going to hot up. I'm planning to finish On A Wing And A Prayer by the end of Jan, edit/polish and then submit by the end of Feb. I'm not working on anything else, except in point form, no matter how much noise they make in my head. I'm going to do one review every two to three days and no more. Even though I love doing them I can get a bit obsessive about it. Actually, I can get a bit obsessive about a lot of things. Editing/polishing is one of them. I've decided that I write the first draft, give it to a CP (yes Devon sweetie that's you) then do one edit/polish before sending it out. (God, I feel sick already.)
They're my goals for Jan and Feb. Once I decide on my goals for the rest of the year I'll let you know. I'm thinking I need to do the final edit/polish on Perfect Strangers which has been finished for over a year but I keep getting tangled up in the edit/polish process and taking on every piece of advise. Okay, that's March's goal. Do up Perfect Strangers and submit it. (Where's the bucket, now I know I'm going to be sick.) Small steps along the road to publication.
Check out some of the new sites I've added in the links section.

The only thing that doesn't change is change itself.

Rachel.C

Catching up.

2008-01-10T16:09:00.000+08:00

I'm not sure where to begin with this blog. It's been so long since I checked in and so much has happened, not all of it good. First, I guess is we arrived in Sydney safe and sound to find half the family waving signs and a welcome home balloon. It was nice to see them all so excited to see us, of course the first thing Corki asked for was money, but hey she's a teenager what could I expect? Two days later I found out I'd been bumped from the Karin Tabke One Line Comp. But I did make the last 25 which for a first time was a great achievement.
Four days later my Grandmother was admitted to hospital. She's been sick for a very long time and hospital trips are not a new thing for us, but this time was different. I can't say how we knew but all of us did. Even though they kept her five days and sent her home she was back in again two days later. After living with emphysema for 15 years and lung cancer for about 3 she gave up the fight and left us on New Years night. At 83 she'd had a good life and really hasn't been the same since my Grandad died 12 years ago. In the words of my daughter, 'now she can breath'. We'll miss her but she'll be fondly remembered.
Christmas with the family was great and everyone found the changes in the kids amazing. We found a few little pressies for people from overseas that got some laughs too. I got some great books, (nearly all of my wish list) and I'm looking forward to reading them. I've started the Leigh Michaels book On Writing Romance, and already I'm picking up some great advice. I got some great reading books too, some Aussie authors I've been keen to read among them. I also go the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English with Writing Assistant and 88,000 Spoken Examples. Not sure what that all is but I can't wait to get back to Singapore and take a good look at it.
After all the Christmas festivities we packed the car and headed for our on site caravan at St Georges Basin two hours south of Sydney. It was great to meet up with people we haven't seen since last year and New Years Eve saw us partying and watching our very own fireworks. After drinking all night Hubby wasn't too happy making the drive back to Sydney to say a final goodbye to Grandma, good thing I needed to do something to take my mind off what was happening.
Spending the rest of that week at the van was a great distraction, and between then and the funeral I held it together rather well. The funeral was lovely but I felt it was a little sad that the only people there to say goodbye were family. You don't realise how isolated people get in their old age, especially when they're ill.
On the way back to the van from the funeral I received a phone call to say my father had been taken to hospital. He'd been sick for a while with what the doctor said was a virus but after weeks of feeling ill and not eating the toll on his body has been too much and now they're doing test after test to find out what's wrong. They keep asking how much he drinks but he hasn't drunk anything for over 20 years, I'm not sure what that says about what they're thinking. We still don't know what's wrong and with me heading back to Singapore next Thursday I'm feeling a little stressed about it.
With all that's been happening I've done no reading, reviewing or writing. That's depressing. I need to write. I can't write. I've had internet access for three days now and other than checking my emails I've not blogged. I'm hoping this will break the drought. I'll point out not that this has taken me all day, I keep going away and coming back to add a bit more. I guess it doesn't help that I tear up every time I mention Grandma or my Dad.
I jumped on a couple of blogs to see what every one has been up to and was delighted to see my best cyber-buddy, Devon Grey, mentioned me in her blog about the great things she's achieved in 2007. I'm a high light! I have to say she makes my list too. I'm going to have a think about all the good things to happen in 2007, after all that 2008 has had to offer so far I need to remind myself of the good things.
Until my next blog stay safe and happy.

Take nothing for granted, let everyone you love know it, you might not get another chance.

Rachel.C

Up, up and away, I'm off on holiday.

2007-12-16T17:07:00.000+08:00

Today's the day. I'm going on the A380 to Sydney tonight arriving in Sydney in the morning. Not how long it'll be before I get back online so I'm checking in now to let everyone know just in case I drop off the face of the earth. (At least I'm warning you before I disappear this time.)

I got myself a new toy to play with. It's a My Space page. I'm still learning how it all works over there, it's very confusing and I'm still have some trouble finding my way around but you can pop over and check me out. (I've put a link on the side of the blog.)

www.myspace.com/rachelacharlton

Go on over there and check out who some of my friends are. You'll notice lots of changes as I get the hang of it over there and play around.
Well, off to check every thing is packed.
'See' you all soon.

Wishing everyone a safe, happy and bountiful Christmas and New Year.

Rachel.C

Spring Cleaning!

2007-12-13T12:43:00.000+08:00

Out with the old, in with the new.
I know it's winter where I live and it's summer where I'm going for the next month but I've had a spring anyway. What do you think? I'm not sure. I had a few complaints about the old look hurting the eyes so I thought I'd see how this went. Who knows, I'll probably change it again anyway.

Change is as good as a holiday, everyone should have one!

Rachel C

Getting into the spirit of giving.

2007-12-12T14:19:00.000+08:00

I visited the Naughty and Spice Blog today and found Amie Stuart's blog very interesting. She's blogging about another author, Colleen Gleason, who runs an unusual contest. Pay It Forward. For anyone that's seen the movie you'll know what I'm talking about, well the idea anyway. So Colleen sets a challenge, pay it forward, do something nice for someone else this holiday season, then make a comment about it on her blog and on the 20th Dec she'll pick some winners. I didn't check out the prizes but I'm sure they're cool. And Amie, 'good' girl that she is, is running a parallel contest. That's right, she's spreading the word and adding incentive. She's giving a free critique or course to the winning author and a half dozen books to the winning reader of her contest. But it's not the prizes that get me it's the things people do for nothing, I mean really, the prizes aren't that fantastic. So I checked out some of the comments and the things people are talking about are so small, just seconds out of our day or, as in one case, change out of our pocket. Then I got to thinking what's the one thing we can all give, everyday, that costs nothing? (picture light bulb moment here) A smile. Yep, costs nothing and yet we have the power to give it to everyone we meet, even if it is just in the line while waiting to use the bathroom at the local shopping mall. Think about a smile for a minute. How good does it make you feel to see someone smiling? How good do you feel when you're smiling? I know they say that laughter is the best kind of medicine so wouldn't it stand to reason that a smile is a small dose? Imagine how much better you're day would be if everyone you past had a smile on their face. I know that after our move to Singapore the kids didn't smile at all for quite a while, then as life began to settle and they got more comfortable the smiles came back, and there's nothing better in this world than a grinning child. If you give nothing else this Christmas give the gift that's free at every opportunity. The best bit is that it's a gift that gives back. Not many people can resist smiling back.
Naughty and Spice Blog
http://www.naughty-and-spice.com/
Colleen Gleason Blog
www.colleengleason.com/wordpress/
Visit both blogs and check out some of the things people are doing. Enter the contests if you want. I'm entering Amie's because I think it's cool the way she's riding Colleen's coat tails. I only wish I had something to give away in a contest as well. Maybe next year, until then I'll just pass the word along.

Sometimes your joy is the sauce of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the sauce of your joy.
Thich Nhat Hanh.

Rachel.C

Karin Tabke One Line Comp.

2007-12-11T11:47:00.000+08:00

I've said it before I'll say it again, I can't work it out, how do I keep staying in? Round 9 was posted today, and yes there was my entry, still in. This boggles the mind, well either that or the fact that I'm hyperventilating with excitement. Probably the breathing, I did nearly fall out of the hot seat. Not that I was writing, no reading and reviewing are the order of the day. It's only five days till I board the plane to Oz and I've got nothing ready. Plus I wanted the books out of the way. Not going to happen. Can't sit still now.
ROUND 9!
That's more than halfway. (I think, well I can't think so who knows.) We started with, oh God! I can't remember how many, 70? 75? Not sure anymore. If my maths is good it was 70. So, yeah, over halfway. (Excuse me while I do a happy dance around the room.)
Ahh... back again. Where was I? Yes, that's right, more than halfway through and I'm still there! Okay, I know I'm bragging but really, it's my horn and if I want to blow the damn thing I will. Are you deaf yet? No, seriously, oh who am I kidding? I can't be serious right now! I don't want to be serious right now. I want to laugh and yell and generally enjoy it. It doesn't happen very often. I've said before a writer's life is full of rejection, so any form of acceptance is going to be grabbed with both hands, (might wrap the legs around to hold it down too) and thrown up for the world to see. Can you see?? Okay, no more bragging. I leave you all in peace and quiet.

I've just done spellcheck and re-read the post and it occurs to me that I sound just a tad insane. So that's what all the people in my head are about. I see now, I'm not a writer, I've insane. Well that makes me feel better. There a drug for this, right? Right? Anyone?
No! Did someone say no?
What? The cure is writing everything they say and do down? But that's being a writer....... and they get rejected......
What? Not all the time? Really? Some times they get accepted? I should look at what? Oh, the Karin Tabke One Line Comp.

Okay, going now to add my next line.

Happiness.... it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Rachel.C

Happy Season????? Silly Season!!!!!

2007-12-10T08:03:00.000+08:00

Who said this was 'happy' season? More like here's a years load of stress, she what you can do with it. Silly Season is far closer. Christmas is always a busy time, what with getting every one's presents, kids end of school activities, preparing for some time off, working out where you need to be on what day's, the list is endless. Try doing all that plus getting organised to be away from home for 4 weeks. Not just away from home but out of country. First you need to sort out what has to be taken with you, eg: chrissie presents, clothes, chargers, any work you might need to do while away. Then there's what needs to be done before you leave the house for four weeks (for me that's proving a little easy, Melma will be here), are the animals organised? Snickers is looking forward to having Melma's undivided attention. As the mother I've got to make sure the kids have got everything they need before I can even start getting my own stuff together. Then there's the little things you want to do before going, hair cuts, nails done (girls), de-fur if you're off to a sunny climate (we're live in one so that's up to date), purchase those last minute things to take with you, get the last dentist appointment in before going. Make sure all work is handed in before you leave. This one is hard, I might not get paid for reviewing but it's an everyday job, I need to read and review all the time. I try to be reading a book everyday, some of them I can read in one day, others take longer, once they're read I like to 'sit' on it for a few hours at least before doing the review, so I'm 'working' every day. This requires internet access. I have 24/7 access here but when we're in Sydney I won't have that, so I've been working like a madman to get as many reviews in before end of month as I can. That way it won't matter too much if I can only get a couple done while we're away. Last week I did six reviews bringing my total for the month to 14 (our month ends on the 25th), so I'm well ahead there. But that's meant no writing. I have jotted quite a few notes though, this latest story has me branching out in the paranormal/fantasy genre, and for a first attempt it's not that bad. I've also had another look at my ms that has given me nothing but grief for over a year now. I made a change that, well let's say it wasn't the best change, and when I'd been through the whole thing I realised I'd pretty much destroyed the story. Sooooo.... back I went to remove the change and stand all those domino's back up. Now, I'm back to square one with it and don't really want to talk about it, never mind look at it. So Devon's doing that. Isn't she wonderful! Yep, she's been kind enough to offer and I'm not stupid, so off it went. Now I just get to sit here biting my nails until she's finished with the red pen. (cringe) So there's a good chance that it'll be ready to send out in the new year, (more cringing) which is scary, not the being ready part, the sending out part. the writers life is full with fear of rejection but you can't get accepted without putting yourself up for rejection so it's just a matter of sucking it up and sticking you head on the chopping block. I'm trying to get my head around that, and I will but in the mean time I've got to get back on the keyboard, drag the muse out of the cupboard and start writing again. I need to be more disciplined, I know I lost a lot of it when I got sick and I'm finally back on my feet again so I'll be pulling that into line too. But I got to say it's really hard to do when you've got so much going on. It's only six days til I fly to Sydney and it'll be a month before we're back, that's an awful long time away from home. I'm looking forward to spending time with friends and family, some we haven't seen in 8 months or more, catching up with what's been going on and who's been doing what. I'm also looking forward to not getting up at 6am to get the kids on the bus by 7:20am, they're even happier about that. With every thing we've got planned for while we're down in Sydney it'll be interesting to see if I can get any writing done. I will be doing reviews because there's no way I'm not going to read. Plus I've stocked up on a few e-books, ready for lying in the sun with a cold drink. I will update before we go and while we're there, I'm just not sure how much access I'll have but I promise to be on once a week at least. Even if I have to drive to the library.
Okay, off to check the shopping list to see what needs to be bought today.
'See' you soon.

Happy holidays this Silly Season.

Rachel.C

Girl Power!

2007-12-06T19:20:00.000+08:00

Today was a day off. Well not really, I did do a review and about 6 review edits with the help of Dana the trusty review editor. Then I went out for a girls day. Now you may recall the girls from a previous blog about our girls weekend in Vietnam, this time it was just the three of us that live here in Singapore. Jody the birthday girl had some how got hold of three freebies for a spa and Danielle the goddess of pampering had her hand in the air volunteering before Jody finished reading the fine print. So off we went to enjoy a morning of self indulgence. Now I have to say I learnt something today. Something as a writer I should have known. It's all in how you say it. Yep, what words you use to describe something is the most important thing. Let me explain.
45 minute de-stress and relaxation massage.
Translation - 45 minutes of me sticking my fingers in the tight muscles on you back until it hurts and the relaxation part is the end when I stop with the torture.
10 minute back scrub to exfoliate the dead skin and leave you with smooth, refreshed skin.
Translation - 10 minutes where I rub stuff into your back that feels and acts like sand paper, therefore removing the top three layers of skin to the barely formed layer beneath.
15 minute steam bath.
Translation - 15 minutes where I lock you in a room full of steam so you sweat your ass off and can't breath properly.
See? It's all in the words.
For instance, that last one, I swear it's what I know as a sauna but call it a steam bath and you can charge more money. And lets face it, would any of be lining up for these things if they were describe the second way? No, nope, no way.
So anyway, this got me thinking. What else could I describe in a different way that would make something that was appealing not, or vice versa? Mmmm.... Sounds like a good exercise to me.
Tomorrow, not today cause this is girls day, I'm going to sit down and try my new exercise. It might even be fun. Think about, for those of us that write it should be easy, how could you describe something differently and come up with two different feelings. Here's an example, sex. Think about the way you've written a sex scene in your wip, now re-write it. Use different words to give it a whole new feeling. You could have a scene that was soft and tender originally but with a few changes it could be hard and rough. See where I'm going with this?
Here's the challenge. Who can come up with the best one. There's no price. Not unless you want me to send you which ever kid is annoying me this week. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.
Back to my girls day. After our time in the spa, free time remember, we were nice and relaxed and ready for some lunch. Jody suggested a short walk to a place she knows on the river that serves great sandwiches. Short walk? I'd hate to go on a long one with her. But I have to say, she knew what she was talking about. Fresh bread and fresh fillings, the shop even smelt yummy. I had a BLT, which I haven't had in years, which Melma is now going to learn to make. And if she picks this up as quick as everything else we've taught her I could be in trouble. I'm already putting the weight on again but if I get Melma making me BLT's every day..... (shudder)
We're planning our next girls day but with Christmas, me heading back to Sydney for four weeks, Jody going to Perth and Danielle off to Phuket it'll be the end of January before we can indulge ourselves again. I got a real boost out of today and the dreaded Ms. D and Ms. G seemed to have moved on to greener pastures. It's amazing what a little girl power can do.

I am woman! Hear me roar! (If you stroke me the right way I might purr)

Rachel.C

The 'D' word!

2007-12-04T20:20:00.000+08:00

Okay, so everyone knows I'm a fan of the three P's and I hate the fourth one. Well now I'm getting to know the D one. Depressed! And let me tell you she's huge. Sitting up there on my shoulders giving me a hard time, all because I blew out of Nano. But that's not all, oh no, she didn't just come on her own, no sir, she's brought a friend. Everyone knows the more the merrier, right? So who'd she bring I hear you ask. Guilt! Yet, she bought the biggest guilt she could find and they're up there having a grand old time at my expense. So here I am feeling depressed and guilty as hell because I didn't get done what I wanted. I can't get motivated and I'm having a party of my own. Yet, it's the good old pity party. I've got the big trip back to Australia, which just quietly is going to put a definite crimp in my online life, but for one month I'll be scrabbling to get online when I can and write when I can. In between all the Christmas events and catching up with friends I'm beginning to think I'm not going to get anything done. So other than the wonderful Devon screaming at from the US, to send her the second chapter of On A Wing And A Prayer, I've only got myself pushing me at the moment. And I can't hear me over Depressed and Guilty partying away on my shoulder. So here's what I did. I signed up for Sven. For those out of the loop on this one it's 70 days of sweat. You have to write between 60,000 and 100,000 words in the 70 days. You have 93 days to the whole event, so for 23 days you can rest, have a meltdown, visit family, whatever you're required to do in your everyday life. There is a whole network of authors doing this. Newbies, like me, and published authors. It has author sponsors who cheer us on and give little inspirational talks, or kick our butts, whatever we need they provide. Except the story, that's up to us. Sounds great, the authors life is a very solitary one after all, so if we can have some buddies online going through the same thing as us, at the same time we won't feel so alone. And with all those people talking they just might drown out Ms. D and Ms. G. The catch? I signed up today. Sven finishes on January 15th, it started on October 15th. I'm late! Very late. But as they say, better late than never. So, I'm writing the rest of On A Wing And A Prayer and I'm not going to be too hard on myself over not finishing Nano or, heaven forbid, not finishing it during Sven. I'm doing it for the moral boost, the friendship of other authors and best of all 'meeting' new people. I even noticed when I signed up that a couple of the authors I've 'met' since I started reviewing are in this. And of course my good buddy Sandie Hudson is doing it, in fact she's been raving about it since before Nano and it's kind of her fault I signed up. I was on her blog and she's got the Sven logo on there and well, I couldn't help it, I clicked and off I went. I read the whole blog site for Sven and was hooked. It probably didn't help that the author sponsors are ones I've been reading for years. I'm such a sucker for a recognisable name. As of tomorrow I'm kicking Ms. D and Ms. G to the curb and getting back in the hot seat. It also helped that when I logged on to check out the latest round for the Karin Tabke One Line Comp my entry was still there. Yep, round 8 and going strong. Now if I could just figure out why..... I really don't know. I'm convinced that the other entries are better than mine, so I've got to be missing something. I don't see why it works and the other ones that get bumped out don't. If someone has the answer I'd love to know what it is. Come on, share. Fine! Don't share, leave me sitting here in the dark biting my nails till next week when round 9 gets announced.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Make it count.

Rachel.C

My Baby?

2007-12-03T10:28:00.000+08:00

I wouldn't normally post family pix on here but I had to share these with you. This is my 'baby' Timothy and his girl, Tamara, yes they're TimTam. Anyway, they're on the way to their Year 12 Formal. Hubby was in Sydney that week for work so he was lucky enough to go see them. They both looked so gorgeous, Tim scrubbed up rather well and Tam looked soooo pretty. It was a really cold and windy afternoon but we still managed to get some good pix. In the car with them are Tam's bestmate Rachel and her boyfriend Ben. The different colours the girls picked actually look great together. I can't believe how quick they grow up. Tim turned 18 at the beginning of November and I can remember the day he was born like it was yesterday.

Love them for what they are, not what you expect them to be.

Rachel.C

Nano Update.

2007-12-03T09:51:00.000+08:00

Nano is officially over. I'm pleased because now I don't have to spend every day feeling guilty about not having the energy to type. I've managed to get 22,143 words done. No quite half way. Oh well, better luck next year. I figure I've done about 15 hours solid writing in the whole 30 days, which is really disappointing but what can you do when everything conspires against you? Anyway, the show must go on, and is. A Wing And A Prayer is moving along nicely and will be finished, if not before Christmas then in the first weeks of January. The bonus to all of this is that the piece is still in the one line comp. We're down to 35 entries and of those there's about 6 or so Aussie's, me being one of them. I'm looking forward to tomorrow with excitement and trepidation, the results are posted on Monday evening each week but as we're ahead over here it's Tuesday my time.

Remember to smile. It costs nothing.

Rachel.C

Nano update.

2007-11-23T23:43:00.000+08:00

Day 23 - 3,356 words. Taking the total to 15,739 words. Five chapters and I think 74 pages. If I keep up the pace I'll go close to making the 50,000 but at this point with only 7 days left I'll be happy to make the half way mark.

Keep the dream alive.

Rachel.C

Did you miss me?

2007-11-23T13:26:00.000+08:00

Well? Did ya?
I know I miss me.
I've discovered a bit about myself this month that I really could have done without. Oh, not altogether, just after Nano. I sooooo wanted to make the 50,000. I bet you all thought I was shut away somewhere tapping away at the keyboard. Don't I wish. No such luck.
My boy and his girl arrived from Sydney on the 6th of Nov and we went as a family to Phuket for a week on the 8th, which, if you remember I accounted for those lost days of writing. So I was cool with all that. You know I made the 5,895 on the first day, I didn't tell you about the 3,104 on the fifth day, taking my total to 8,999 before going on hols. Manageable. Doable. (did I just make up a word?) What I didn't count on was a health crisis. Day surgery and a bacterial infection that's slowly eating my insides. Not as bad as it sounds, so don't panic, but it is an eye opener. Top that with being weighed down with multiple amounts of antibiotics, enough to kill a small nation, and you have a recipe for lots of lazing around. I'm on the road back to good health even if a do rattle a bit with all the tablets I'm taking, and I've got some good things going on as well.
I had such a wonderful time with Tim and Tam, and seeing how it was the first time in 6 months we've been together as a family, it was balm to a very sorry for herself mum. Getting the news of the impending hospital visit before they arrived I think gave me a push to really enjoy just being with my family. Not knowing what any of the outcome would be was enough to get me to forget about all the shit happening and just be with everyone and enjoy ourselves. And enjoy ourselves we did. Phuket was a blast.
Having them still here when I went in was both a pain and a comfort. The only down side was having to say goodbye to them last Sunday. It didn't help that Chris flew to Sydney for work half an hour after they left. My results weren't all in yet and I spent a very sleepless night on Sunday and a restless day Monday till the doctor rang with the good news. And really, if it wasn't for the fact I was looking pregnant but losing weight I probably wouldn't have gone to the doctors when I did. But eating enough to feed a small nation and still losing 2 kilos in one week has got to be a wake up call. It seems I've been feeding a greedy nation of bacteria and leaving nothing for me. Typical mother behaviour. So now it's all about me. That small nation is being evicted as I write.
So I'm back in the hot seat and I've managed to get some writing done on my Nano project. Day 19 I did 3,384 words and already today I'm over the 3,000 mark. Now if I can just stay awake to get the words out. That's the most frustrating part. The story is there, finished, in my head. I'm just too exhausted to sit and write it. (killing a small nation is tough work) But I'm happy with where I am because of where I've been. And even if this doesn't get finished at the end of Nano and I don't make the 50,000, I still have a really great story that I didn't have before. One good enough to be polished and submitted. Remember this started life as one line for the Karin Tabke one line comp. I'm pleased to say, that as of this week I'm still in. The next round comes out Monday night US time. Fingers crossed for that.
I mentioned in an earlier blog about two pieces I'd entered in another contest. Well, I got those results during my troubles and haven't had a real good look but so far, even though I didn't make the cut, I'm happy with the judges comments. And the scores. Particularly on one that hasn't even been polished yet. I only did the bit needed to enter it.
Well, I'm off to do some more writing to crank up the word count and hopefully I'll be able to stay awake long enough to get to 50,000. Not today, I'm not that hopeful. I just want to get to the 50 by the time I head to Oz for Christmas. I'd be happy with that much.
'See' you all soon.

Every breath you take is precious, use it to the fullest.

Rachel.C

Day one.

2007-11-01T21:30:00.000+08:00

Day one.
What can I say?
I'm shocked, I mean I know when I write it always surprises me when I check the word count but today I got the surprise of my life. See the thing is, when you look at where we are and how far we're into the story you think, not much there. Well, d'oh, yeah there is. So far we've had heroine and three lines. Yep, that's where we started. Remember this is the entry I've got going in the Karin Tabke one line comp. And each week I've added a new line. Off the top of my head, no clue about a story, no ideas about a story. So when we start with that we can be forgiven for hesitating when stepping up to the keyboard. But the show, or in this case story, must go on. And go on it did. We've had the heroine, Lana, hiding from the bad guys. Meeting of hero, Trey, and then escape with hero. Zooming off into the dark of night to end up in hero's shower, with hero (no hanky panky). Then sleeping in hero's bed naked, without hero. Waking in hero's bed naked, with hero, who is fully clothed (mmm... something wrong there). Anyway, that's where I've left them, in bed. Again for the slow ones, no hanky panky. (Definitely something wrong there.) Think I better have a word with Lana tomorrow, I mean Trey is one hot dude, what is she thinking? Oh, I know what she'd thinking. No hanky panky. Mmmm.... these people really do take on a life of their own. Trey is big and dark and for some reason I'm thinking of Vin Diesel when I write. Not so much the face but definitely the bod. And Lana is coming across as a tiny blonde. She may be tiny in size but she's not tiny in spirit. So, doesn't seem like much yet, I mean I've just summed it up in a couple of sentences, right? Wrong.
At the moment ON A WING AND A PRAYER weighs in at: (drum roll)
27 pages
2 chapters
5,895 words
Now remember my aim is 1,700 per day. Whoa! That's nearly three and a half times what I need to put out. Now I'm sure this pace is not going to last, we have to get to the dreaded sagging middle yet, and then there's the days where I won't be able to write at all. So getting this much out when I can is probably a good thing. The scary bit is I wasn't really pushing that hard. I could have worked a lot harder and for longer, but once I started seeing how far I'd gotten I slowed down a bit.
For me Nano is turning out to be enjoyable and I'm thinking that this is probably the calm before the storm. So I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed.
I'm stealing my quote from someone but I don't know who so I'll just say it's not mine and leave you with it.

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

Rachel.C

Ready! Set! Go!

2007-10-31T18:28:00.000+08:00

Nooo.... Wait!
I'm not ready. I've changed my mind, I know, nothing new there, but I have. I want to write a different story. Well I'm gunna and you can't stop me. So there! (do I sound like a two year old?)
The new title is up on the Nano site. Yep, On a Wing and a Prayer. At least that what I think I'm calling it. It'll do for now.
Everyone is nervous, especially all us virgin Nano participants. We're all madly sending good luck email to the loop, going no-mail on our e-groups and updating our blogs. If fact one has even gone as far as to say she's not available for anything until Dec 1. I'm with her on that. Don't ring me, don't email me, oh, no, hang on, if you're a publisher but all means ring me, email me. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere. Well, I am, we're off to Phuket next week but I'll take my phone. I'd hate to miss THAT call.
Okay, so we're all straight on what's happening. That's good. Now if I could just remember.....
I know I'll write it down. Stick it to the wall in front of me. There, now I won't forget what's going on. All right, now for the good bit. Writing. Lots and lots of writing.
50,000 words in 30 days.
We can and will do it.
I'll leave you with the sign I think I'll put on the office door. Actually, I can't decide which one so I might rotate them so people know I'm still alive in here.

Out of my mind back in 30 days.
or
Out to lunch, back in an hour.

Rachel.C

Where have you been?

2007-10-30T14:02:00.000+08:00

I bet you all thought I'd gone off the deep end and they'd locked me up. No such luck. I've been busy. Sorting things out ready for the beginning of Nano. Thursday is D Day! I've worked out I need about 1700 words a day to meet the target of 50,000 in 30 days. No problem. Well I'll need to minus a day for a short story workshop I'm doing with Alison Stuart, then there's the seven days we're in Phuket. Oh, and the six days my son and his girlfriend are here. So that makes...... 14 days, okay, 30 minus 14 is 16, 50,000 divided by 16... does anyone have a calculator? Hold on.
Got one. 50,000 divided by 16 = 3,125.
Oh God!
No way!
I'm not gonna winnnnn........
Wait a minute, hyperventilating here.
All right, fine now. I can do this, it's not like I have to go to work, this is work. And there's nothing else I have to do during November. Well, there is the reviews for FAR, plus I've signed up to interview an author, but that's online so I don't need to leave my chair. Plus there's the hand I waved in the air to help with the Passionate Ink newsletter, and it's not like I need any sleep. Or food. Or drink. And if I'm not fed or watered I won't need to go to the bathroom, which means more time in the chair. And nobody wants any Christmas presents this year, do they? No, no, I'm sure they'll be happy to know I've spent the time on my writing and not on them. It's not like I know what to get anyone anyway. So, in November you'll find me with my butt glued to the chair, (is that starting to sound like the one at the end of death row? It sure is starting to feel like it), with my finger busy tapping away and a smile on my face because the words are flowing so freely. And any minute now I'll wake up and find I haven't signed myself up for something I don't have time for. Damn, it sounded so doable (is that a word?) when I signed on. I guess it doesn't matter if I win or not, it's the writing. I just hope it's not one more thing that will have to be locked in the bottom draw.
On to bigger and better things.
I entered Karen Tabke's One Line comp. On a whim. It was posted on the ROMAUS e-group and I had a look and went of what the hell, you only live once. I posted my first line and thought this will be funny, I'm gone in the first cut. Ten lines go, then everyone left adds their second line, another ten go and everyone left adds their third line, you get the picture. So I'm still in after the first line, I have my self a laugh and post a second. Let me just say that these lines are coming off the top of my head. Never been heard from before and each Tuesday I think up the next one. So imagine me sitting here this morning with my mouth hanging open because there's my lines. Waiting for the third to join them! Okay, now what? I don't have a story. I don't even have an idea! So I sat on it for about three hours then added the next. Still have no idea where we're going or what we're doing. The more I look at the lines the more I realise they could actually be going anywhere. And I chose to do this now! Did some say insane? I'm sure I've heard that before somewhere. Oh well, just keep plodding along. What else can I do? I'm not going to pull out of anything, I might fail at some things but I don't quit them. So I'm getting ready to have an intense couple of weeks and I'm not sure I'll be around much but I'll get the Hubby to post if it all gets too much and I just head down to the pool with a drink.
'See' you all around cyberspace.

My quote this week is from me and it's not really a quote, it's kind of the way I'm going to treat things the next couple of weeks.
When the hurdles in my life are too tall to get over I'm improvising, I've bought my shovel, I'm going under the bloody things.

Rachel.C

No, no, don't answer the door!!

2007-10-23T15:35:00.000+08:00

Damn, why did you answer the door? I know I wasn't here but really you shouldn't have answer the bloody thing. Now look what you've done!
No I'm not having a conversation with myself, I'm talking to my muse. At some point she opened the door and let in Procrastination. I've warned and warned Muse but it's like talking to a brick wall. I she let the bitch in while I was at the dentist getting tortured with needles and drills and cement, is it just me or should those things have nothing to do with the mouth? So here I am home and the pair of them are having a cuppa and a chat. I can't even have the cuppa, half my face is numb and what isn't numb hurts like hell. So I've shooed them off the couch so I can get some work done which is fine except Procrastination took Muse with her! Now what? Me head hurts, I can't drink or eat for a couple of hours and the pain killers are wearing off. Now they're back but we're not fighting, I'm co-operating, hopefully if I do they'll be nice and Procrastination will leave so that Muse and I can get back to work. Picture if you can, me pushing furniture around constantly wiping my mouth and nose with a tissue because I still can't tell if either is running, the sun is streaming in making the room hot without my physical activity and that pair telling where they want everything to go. All I wanted was to move my desk out of the morning sun. Since we headed into autumn I've got sun coming in on the desk which means I can't see the laptop screen without squinting or getting my sunnies out. Oh yeah, go on, laugh. I'm laughing with you, I can only be grateful that no one's home to take pictures. Anyway, we've rearranged and I still have the sea view if I turn to the right and the ocean breeze blows straight across me to keep me cool while writing all those steamy scenes. I'm ready. Okay, Muse.... I'm ready.
What do you mean you're busy? You're what? Going out? No you're not. Get back over here, we need to get this story finished before November 15 or there's not point writing it. Miss the deadline and we wait till next year to submit it. Yes I know no writing is pointless but it was your idea to do a piece with a valentine theme...... (hear me whine. Loud.) All right! Fine! When will you be back? What? You don't know? How could you not know? Damn lady you are going to be the death of me. Okay. I'll read then. I've got two books to review I don't need you to be here to get work done. I'll read then review them and if you're not here when I finish I'll start on the next one. Oh, right, now that I don't need you you're ready. Well that's just typical isn't it? Where's your friend? She's gone? Really? Oh, oh, okay then, what are we doing? Right, right, I'm getting off. Yes I'm coming, let me just say goodbye.
I'm going. She's ready. I knew if I had a bitch about her she'd get back here, sometimes she's sooo predictable. Off to get some words on the page.

Immature love says, "I love you because I need you."
Mature love says, "I need you because I love you."
Erich Fromm

Rachel.C

We're out of control...Somebody stop us!!!

2007-10-22T17:35:00.000+08:00

Well here's a taste of a girls weekend. I thought it best not to blog any of the incriminating photos so here we are, from left to right, Miz, Jody, Danielle and Me, waiting to board our boat on the Mekong River. We had great weather and even though we were a little under par from the night before we still managed to get up at dawn and drag our butts down to meet our own personal tour guide. Yep, just the four of us, how cool was that? The Mekong is amazing and I'm still not over going there. We spent the day on the river going through the channels between the islands that make their home along the Mekong. I had no idea how big the Mekong is. When we arrived on the Friday the first thing after checking in was shopping. Woo hoo..... I love the markets and Miz and Jody both agree that it's better shopping in Ho Chi Minh than Bangkok. And the art work, let's just say only one of us came home without some. My painting is going up in the bedroom and once I've done that I'll have to go back for more, couldn't fit anything else in the luggage if I tried. Then we found this little spa place where we had foot massages that included legs, arms, back and neck. Mmmm.... sounds like a full body massage to me, anyway, $5 later (yes, US) I splurged on a manicure. Almost broke the budget though at another $5 I had to really think about it. NOT!!!!
We're getting together this week to have lunch and exchange photos, if you're lucky I might tease you some more with a photo of us at the spa.
We're busy planning the next weekend away, although I've got Phuket in two weeks and Danielle wants me to go with her to Cambodia to drop off some things to the orphanage where they're adopting from, plus I fly back to Oz on the 16th of December for Christmas. None of us wanted to get on the plane to come home but we had to. If you're looking for somewhere to go I recommend Vietnam, this was my second trip and I'm definitely going back.

Rachel.C

GOING AWOL!

2007-10-18T13:20:00.000+08:00

Yep, that's me. I'm going away, and before you ask, no the men in the white coats aren't coming to get me. I'm off on a girls weekend away. We're going to Vietnam! Woo hoo!!! I get to go on another plane. We leave in the morning, 7:25, so I'm trying to clear up everything before I go. I'm taking my new PDA, well it's new to me, it's a hand-me-down from Hubby, he got a blackberry. I swear, it's a good thing I don't have any buttons or do fancy tricks or he'd never leave me alone. The man loves gadgets. He's trying to get the PDA working so I can log on over there but it doesn't seem to be happening, nothing ever does when I'm around, maybe I'll tell you about zapping my laptop one of these days.
Anyway, I'm out of here until Monday.
Enjoy your weekend.

Some love lasts a life time, true love lasts forever.

Rachel.C

Got my bearings and moving forward.

2007-10-15T22:22:00.000+08:00

For a while there things were a bit confusing, all turned around and nothing looked familiar. But now after some mad scribbling with pen on paper, things have become a little clearer and I'm not so concerned about being on a road not travelled before. As words and sentences began to take shape and a story unfolded I realised this was something that was going to push me out of my comfort zone in more ways than one. First, it's nothing like I've done before, scary enough by it's self. Second, it's definitely a single title, mmm.... 100,000 words is a lot of letters! And third? Research! Lots of research. In fact I would say I'm going to learn a hell of a lot about the 'conflict' my hero and heroine are going to face. I'm not even sure if it's going to have a happy ending, and that would have to be the biggest scare of all. The other major 'problem' I'm having with it is it seems to hit a little too close to home. Is that going to make it easier or harder to write? Time will tell, I guess. I'm not that comfortable talking about the subject matter yet and probably won't for a while. It's really hard to explain how this story has me all bent out of shape. I've read stories that have made my cry and stories that have made me laugh, I've even read a couple that have done both and it scares the sh** out of me that this is one of those. I'm still not sure I have the skill to pull it off. But I'll never know unless I try and so I go forth into the great blue yonder and read some more of my research. Damn there's a lot of it. I've only just scratched the surface. Back to the tombs. I mean desk. Actually, I think I'll go to bed and start fresh in the morning. With the kids back at school they're out of the house by 7:30 so there'll be plenty of peace and quiet.

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. (Les Brown)

Rachel.C

Change of direction.

2007-10-11T18:20:00.000+08:00

For my first year in Nano I had a rough idea of what I wanted to work on, I will admit to the idea being around for a while and it even has the first scene written. (I didn't intend to count those words in my total) But then this afternoon, while in the shower washing my hair of all places, an idea began to unfold in my mind. The further the idea got the more I wanted to run with it, so I sat down to jot some notes. Only it didn't work out that way. The opening just flowed from the end of my pen and as usual I went with the flow. Now my mind keeps jumping forward and I jot a note on a separate page but then I'm back to the beginning and so it goes. The problem I'm having is that the more I write and the more I think up, the more I realise this is big. Bigger than anything I've attempted before. It's scares me to think this has come from me, I know I love to read the big emotional/dramatic stories that have a lot have heartache but always the happily ever after, but I've never felt the urge to write them. All my writing has be geared towards the erotic end of the market, and I know that that doesn't exclude them from having the emotional/dramatic story line, but I've never written that way. This story has the potential to be something I'm not sure I'm qualified to do. The fact that I'm sitting here getting teary and chocked up over what I'm writing and thinking, is enough for me to think, shit! Can I do this? I don't know that I can. But I've never stopped anything from coming out and appearing on paper or screen. So what do I do? Do I go with this for Nano because Nano is about getting words on paper and not quality or do I go back to what I'm used to doing? And why suddenly has this bigger deeper writing shown up? The only thing I can think of is a conversation I had some weeks ago with the lovely Melissa James. She was asking what I writing and then what I read and she actually asked why I didn't write something deeper and more emotional seeing how I love them so much. At this point I'm going the blame/thank her for putting the kernel in my subconscious. There's no other explanation.
As authors we live with the fear of rejection and I guess we live with the fear that the stories will dry up or in my case be to big for us. I'm left with not much choice, even if I don't use this for Nano I'm going to do it anyway. I have to. It's up there swanning around like it runs the joint, pushing aside everyone else and talking the loudest. If I don't listen I risk it getting so loud that nothing else gets through and that brings me back to the dam on my river. Why did I ever think of that? Now every time I think about stopping an idea I have visions of all these bare chested workmen building a wall with all my little people on the other side trying to peer round them while they work. All sweaty and muscles bulging.... Oops, got a little side tracked there.
So back to Nano. Should I work on this new direction? Is it the perfect opportunity to get words on paper to see if this is going some where? Do I go back to what I know? And if I do will I be stuck with this one running round my head screaming, 'pick me, pick me!'.
I'm counting on some advises from the elders in my buddy group, and I'd also like to know what the rest of you virgins think. I'm off to add more words before I need a panadol.

Nothing endures but change. (Heraclitus)

Rachel.C

THE THREE P's!

2007-10-09T21:56:00.000+08:00

I love the three P's, Patience, Persistence and Perseverance, there's just one problem. I've found another P. Only I don't like this one. In fact I want to beat the thing out of existence. Really!
PROCRASTINATION!!!!
Ahhh.....
I'm doing it. Big time. I'm bad, I know I am, but I can't seem to stop. Is it a drug? Well whoever the bastard was that injected me better watch out because I've had enough. I can't even seem to read a book, which anyone that knows me will tell you is unheard of. So, how did I get here and more importantly how do I get back? I don't like the view from here. Nothing is motivating me in the slightest. All I'm doing is going through the motions and anyone can do that so what I'm doing can't be that special. A little retail therapy didn't even help. (Books of course)
So, I'm sitting here with the ocean breeze blowing in the window, I've put to bed my latest FAR review and now I'm surfing the net. Now I'm not exactly the best surfer, in fact I'm surprised I haven't shut the whole thing down. Don't laugh, I did zap my laptop with static electricity once and shut it off. So I'm surfing and catching up with some of my favourite blogs when I got to Sandie's. Have I told you lately that I'm glad we're buddies? Sandie has written in her latest blog entry that things clicked after reading somethings on mine and Devon's blogs. Devon and I are on opposite sides of the globe with no chance of connecting in the real world but managed to get thrown together in an online course, we've been cyberbuddies ever since. Sandie I picked up in cyberspace as well, through ROMAUS, and she's rapidly becoming just as important as Devon. Devon always seems to be able to understand or sympathize with me and have me bouncing back in no time. Now Sandie has done the same without even knowing it. After commenting about how we inspired her to get back to the flow of things I was suddenly confronted with what I've known all along. I'm not a conformer. No way, no how. In fact, box me in and I'll come out throwing punches. I realised I've been sitting here doing exactly what I'd been saying not to. The old so as I say not as I do. Only I'm an idiot because I've never done anything any one's said, just ask my mother, so why the hell have I suddenly started trying to plot and plan?
Temporary insanity!
So I'm taking my own advise and letting it flow. And guess what? Those pesky people in my head just came out to play. I've managed to put down 2 pages of A4 notebook in ten minutes! Writer's cramp and shorthand are well and truly my friends. The thing is, it's not from anything I'm already working on. Nope. Whole new story. So, do I leave it and head back when Nano starts of do I keep going because that's what works best for me? And what about during Nano? Do I work on a few different stories, like normal, or do I attempt to focus on one? Remember that river analogy?
I will say this. I'm going to allocate time. Time to read and review, time to read for fun and time for writing. What? Oh yeah, time for family. As long as I spend the right amount of time on everything I should be fine. And seeing how I'm really good at going with the flow, it'll be easy to work around the fact that those pesky people have come out to play at 10:30 at night.
Here's hoping that the flow flows because time certainly isn't going to stop.

If it were not for hope, the heart would break. (Thomas Fuller)

Rachel.C