Bank Holiday Rain

I might the only person in the UK enjoying the rain today but the sound is lovely as I sit here. Sorry I have been away so much. The rush up to leaving and then staying with friends meant that I have been off line for a while. I was twitchy at first but managed to survive.

It is lovely being back in my home. All is not well here - the shower is disintegrating and the garden is sprouting weeds from every corner but overall it is bliss. So come tomorrow I need to contact my builder do some research for what will replace said shower and the floor which is now warped do to leakage. That plus all the others things I needed to do. The most important of which is too love my boys who have grown on me again - yes they have grown - it wasn't me shrinking.

So my blogging will remain bad I'm afraid. The revision is still progressing and I'm am still pleased with the progress. It is now reaching the stage where the heaviest layering will take place. I will confess to being a bit frightening but am pushing forward.

So how's is your bank holiday?

Awesome

Last night over-looking the water with hot winds blowing Bon Jovi rocked at Emirates Palace. I have been a long time quiet fan (since before I met DH) but don't want to rub the DH the wrong way too many times. However last night he had to watch his wife and his DD screaming their hearts out.
The concert lived up to and exceeded the hype. The whole thing was made even better by watching my eight year old's face as the lights went out on the stage then bam the the cords of Lost Highway blasted out. I had forgotten the thrill of the first time hearing in Rock live and loud. Her experience may all go down hill from here........
My photos were crap but that could be that singing and dancing while trying to take photos is never a good thing. So the photos come for the Gulf News!
P.S. The man's smile when he sang Let's Make a Memory was knee weeking. Dh cast me a flithy look as I nearly swooned! Must base my next hero on him so that I have an excuse to post JBJ photos all over the place for inspiration!

Wise Words

So okay the revision has stalled due to life. Trying to put everything in place before I leave the DH and dd alone for a week while I am back in the UK with the boys. I am iching to work but life interferes. The highlight of the interferance this week is the Bon Jovi concert in the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. I can't tell you how excited I am and it has nothing to do with the fact that I fancy Jon Bovi like mad of course. The Dh is very tolerant of this crush of mine but was none to please when dd said she would rather have a poster of Bon Jovi on her walls than him. At eight she has broken his heart. This is compounded daily by her singing It's My Life at the top of her lungs because she getting ready for tomorrow night. Yes, she is going to her first concert!

Now onto wise words. During my lunch I stopped by the wonderful Kate Walker's blog where she has been answering questions. This particular question was by a writer who had been told her books are still too plot driven. There is an excellent answer but the wise words that hit me were:

"One final piece of advice is don't put in any 'event' unless you know why it happens/how it changes things and why it changes things."

As I am rewriting that is a good question to keep in mind me thinks. Thank you Kate. If you are writing romantic fiction and haven't checked out Kate's 12 Point Guide to Romance - do. It's a gold mine.

Update

Sorry I have been so invisible but I have been working hard and life has absorbed the other time as it tends to........like lost marriage certificates and things (long story I may one day tell).

A Cornish House is being carved and redesigned. At the start of this rewrite I had 391 pages. Currently that stands at 335 and I'm thrilled about it! I am working on page 201 and the story has moved to become Maddie's without lessening Serena's. (Mark's pov of has disappeared - for the answer to that delema and I actually think it makes him a stronger character) I have thrown so much at poor Maddie that I do worry about her but she is showing just what she is made of. With all the cutting I have done it is leaving me the room to develop all the twists in Maddie's life. My biggest concern is that I can remember them all and pull everything together at the end. I will only begin to know this at the end of this rewrite.

Now keen blog reader will remember that I set myself a deadline for the end of this rewrite of 23rd May when I fly back to the UK for a week. With my head down I just may make it so I will still be in absentia in the blog world for another week. Wish me luck!

Super Link

Regular blog readers know that I am a member of the Novel Racers (a wonderful rag tag bunch of writers supporting each other through the whole novel writing process) and each week we 'meet' for coffee and discussion. This week the wonderful Zinnia was hosting and boy did she hit on a fantastic topic - our own 'Crystal Tips' here. Hop over to read a collection of fantastic writing tips - so many light bulb moments in the comments section.

I am finally making headway on the revison. Haven't updated the sidebar as it wouldn't look like progress. I now have 360 pages instead of 391 for a start. There's been a whole lot of cutting going on but there has been some serious addition stuff happening too. Must keep focused.

I have been tagged by Rebecca for the quirks meme.

Here are the rules:
Link the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules in your blog.
Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged

1. I have a thing about saying thank you waiters/waitresses ( probably because I have been there)
2. i express affection to my husband and kids by silent kisses and they respeond in kind
3. because of my dyslexia I have trouble with telling my right from left so I have to 'pledge alliegence' to know which direction I am talking about - people give you very funny looks when you keep slapping your left tit.........
4. like many Americans I love maple syrup on my bacon but only one of kids gets this
5. it must be in the genes because my feet can't keep still when I hear Irish music
6. dh and I have a fun game when out of creating character sketches of people

Won't tag anyone but if you feel like doing it let me know :-)

For The Curious

Well, I took the plunge and posted the lastest version of the prologue and Chapter One of A Cornish House on my web site here . Brave? Foolish? I'm not sure but I do feel the beginning is now taking shape........back to the revision cave!

Update and Meme

I feel brain dead and my eyes aren't too great either. Progress is happening. What had helped has been reading a friend's work and doing something of critique on it. This is not my forte - I find it hard to be tough on others. However I am learning and what I have learned I have brought back to my own work ( I have no problems being tough on myself!).

So I have cut twenty pages from the first 75 to up the pace. This so far has been the most successful part of the rewrite. In the first draft I needed to write all that in but the reader doesn't need it to understand the story - so byebye darlings.

I am cutting Mark's pov scenes as this can be acheived without being in his head.

I can see where I need to layer in the upping of the stakes - just need to do it now.

As Michelle Styles pointed out in the comments to the previous post. I need to focus on the donut and not on the hole!

What I realized on my last read through A Cornish House was once I got to the middle I didn't stop. The story compelled me along to the end (I cried and I laughed). This was good. Now I need to make the beginning worthy of the rest of the book......... head will go back down in a minute but Leigh has tagged me.

Nearest Book Meme
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you. (not tagging anyone but if you want to do it please enjoy!)

Out of my handbag came When Gods Die - A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery by C.S. Harris.

First problem - p. 123 there weren't five sentences so I went to p. 124.

"She told him to get out. And when he said he'd go all right and tell everyone who'd listen that she'd been playing whore, she..." The abigail's voice trailed off.
"She what?"
Tess Bishop's color was high."

I am loving the book and it's my sneeky read every quiet moment I have. It's worth a visit to C.S.'s blog at the moment as she is exploring how film technique work in writing and she just won the Best Historical Mystery Reviewers Choice Award from Romantic Times for the latest Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery - Why Mermaids Sing.