Wax on, wax off!

When you first start writing a novel, the goal is to finish it and you many think that finishing is the longest slog, especially when the book is about 100,000 words.
But after the finishing comes the editing. The idea of editing is to polish up the novel so that its the best it can be.
Its also to correct any spelling and grammatical mistakes that have crept in. Which they do, when you are concentrating on the writing and getting the story down.
This is the longest slog for me. The novel is written, now its the polishing.
I feel like the Karate Kid, who has to learn his 'wax on, wax off' routine, until the car is as shiny as it can be. The good thing is, along with the Kid, I'll be learning a skill that stands me in good stead for the next novel.
Will there be a next? Of course! I've already started writing book two and am ten thousand words in!

Now, back to book one. I was playing around with some covers for it too, in case I decide to go the self publish route. At the moment, all options are still open. 

Here are some of the cover options. I would love for you to tell me which, if any, would make you want to pick the book up. Don't be frightened to say 'none' if that is the truthful answer. :)

Thanks in advance for your help!

Innovation and another book cover

On Saturday, I watched a reflexology webinar on my computer.

What's a webinar? A web based seminar.
Instead of me travelling to the other end of the country for a reflexology training day, I could sit in the comfort of my own home, watching it live and interacting through a dedicated 'chat' box.

This is a marvellous innovation. It saved me driving for a few hundred miles and stopping overnight in a hotel.
Which means I've polluted the atmosphere less because I didn't use my car.
I also get the benefit of standing up to stretch, rather than sitting all day. I get to use my bathroom without missing great chunks of the lecture.
I even get to have lunch with hubby!
Are there any downsides? Of course. If you are doing a practical, its always helpful to have the lecturer there on the spot to put your hands in the correct position. But, I've been in practice for 16 years, so I should be able to see and understand hand placements.

The webinar lasted from 10am to 5pm, including breaks, so I wasn't really at the computer much for the rest of the weekend.

I did manage just the one book cover, which I did for my writing chum.
We met up at a local theatre for a chat over how we're progressing with our writing.
Here's the cover I designed for her. I hope this one too feels like you'd want to pick it up!

Book Covers

Some days, all I feel like doing is 'playing.'

Hubs had sourced a new photo program called DigiKam so I set to, uploading my photos and designing book covers. It was great fun!

Here are a few - do you think I might have a future in design? :)
Or perhaps I ought to write the stories to match the covers.
Which do you prefer of the three? 

Website and writing

Most of you know me from my painting blog - but did you know I have a painting website?
It is a gallery site that shows all of my paintings.
I created it when we first moved into this house, some four years ago.
It has gallery sections for my dog paintings, my alphabet painting and my cowgirl paintings.
If you'd like to see it, the link is here


I also have a reflexology site.
Reflexology is my working life - and its this life which gives the time and ability to paint and to write.
If you'd like to see my reflexology site, its here

Yesterday I was reading some more of Mary Mackie's Creative Editing.
I want to finish the book and absorb the lessons before I start editing my novel.
However, its so difficult not to write, having got used to doing so daily - that a short story was on the cards. That has been completed and it will sit awhile in a drawer, before I look at it again and make any necessary changes.

Its a funny way of working, but apparently a good one, according to the writing tutor.  It makes you detach from the story and then see it clearly when you return to it.

Do you have any odd little rules for your work?
I'd love to hear them.

this painting 'Almost Home' you can find on my gallery site!

Diva - a short story.

I'd like to share a painting with you - and the short story that it inspired. 

I hope you enjoy them both.

Diva

Her funeral was scheduled for tomorrow.
She who was famous in life would be famous in death, whilst I, who knew her best, loved her best, would be no more than a bit player in the final scene.
Fools! You would deny me, but I will have my hour. That hour is closer than you think.

I remember with fondness the first day we met.
Her eyes lit up when she saw me. She sashayed her way over to me, politely talking to everyone who was in her path, but never taking her eyes off the prize - me!
How we talked that first meeting, I shamelessly sidled up to her and touched her at every opportunity. She in turn, glowed. This was a match made in heaven.
It wasn't long before we were sharing her house. She had wealth yes, many thought me a gold digger, but honestly, money never came between us. She had what she had and gave what she was capable of. I gave what I was capable of. 
Mostly there was love.

I remember how she'd return from a day's acting work and how her tired eyes would come to life when she saw me. 
I was her world, she was mine. I'd come to her and knead her shoulders, so full of tension from dealing with those who never understood her. I'd kiss her and she would smile. 
'Toots,' she'd say, 'let me have a bath first?'
Toots, the memory makes me smile. That was her pet name for me and mine for her? She was my Cream Puff. Toots and Cream Puff, what a couple we were. Totally in love.
The sycophants never liked me, of course. They saw evil and greed, yet in truth there was only love. They did their best to separate us, but we were stronger than them all. 
Only now she is gone and I am alone.

The television is on and I'm watching her funeral.
The hearse is driving slowly through the crowd and fans are weeping, throwing flowers at her coffin. They loved her too. They knew of her love for me and whilst her studio called it mad, they loved her and called our love eccentric. I love those fans, they accepted me once they saw how happy I made her. Why couldn't the studio do the same? My heart breaks for the loss of my Cream Puff. The staff at the house notice how quiet and depressed I am and they avoid me. My world is shattered. The studio hijacked her funeral and I had no legal right to stop them. According to them we did no more than share a house. She had signed contracts with them. 
My heart hurt.

The coffin is lifted from the car and taken into the church.
There are readings and personal recollections and much singing that the local cats would be proud of. They mourn in their way, I mourn in mine. Mine is retreat, until the moment that our great love will be revealed to the world.
There's the studio manager, extolling her greatness, the way she lit up the screen with her personality. I hate him, he makes me so mad I could spit. I silently promise him, he'll get his comeuppance.
Cream Puff is now being transported to the stars' graveyard. She'll be interred and it hits me suddenly, I shall see her no more. This last act was not a film scene, but reality. I am indeed alone. A panic rises, would she have kept her word to take care of me? Instantly, I am cross with myself. How could I doubt her love?

A small group break away from the graveside and walk toward a waiting car. The television reporters confirm they are off to the solicitors for the reading of the will. How I wish I could be there to see their faces. I can only trust the reporters will be waiting outside for them.
I pace our bedroom, waiting for the outcome. Why is it taking so long? I need to hear our love spoken aloud, craving that validation.
Suddenly the reporters are squealing. I run to the screen. This is my moment, my hour. The time they realise I was everything to her  -as she was everything to me.
There's the studio manager, he has a face like an ice cream vendor sucking on a lemon!
This is great news. A reporter asks him a question and he replies 'no comment' as he roughly pushes by!

The solicitor stands in front of an array of microphones. 
He announces the love which was evident throughout our lives together.
'Miss Oldson has left the entirety of her estate to her beloved cat, Toots, to keep him in the comfort he became accustomed to.'
My darling, my Cream Puff. I love you still.

Forging ahead

Hubs and I are on holiday for a week, we've already been out, buying garden plants for me to make my little haven look as pretty as a picture.
We've bought a beautiful hellebore, a sweet smelling evergreen called sarcococca - or Christmas box. Some allium bulbs, a paeony and a bleeding heart.

hellebore

I also picked up a book in a second hand store called 'Creative Editing- spot what's wrong with your writing before your editor does'.

Its the most wonderful book -  a little gem. Its already had me looking at certain parts of my book and thinking - this must change! Which in a way is a blessing, because I heard yesterday that I didn't make the winning five to be mentored. Perhaps in this writing journey I am being helped in a different way.
I am half way through the editing book, once I reach the end, I will apply what I've learned to have the best, most polished novel I can have. Once that's done, I'll look at sending out to agents.

Plans for the rest of the week include a rendezvous with a writing friend from my first course, lunch with another friend, another day - and garden haven planting! Whatever you're up to this week, have a fab one! x

Valentine's Day.

Today is the day we all get inundated with hearts and flowers wherever we turn!

Its a special day for me and hubby, because we met on Valentine's Day over twenty years ago. Not at a special Valentine dance, or anything remotely to do with the hearts and flowers brigade.




We met when we were both doing some work for a hospital charity. Hubs had been doing the night shift and I came along to do the day shift. Not the most likely place for love to start, but grow it did.

We've been through a lot, with his accident and the twelve year road back to normality, so he usually buys a present for Valentine's. If its jewellery I fancy, he always tells me to pick it myself and he'll pay for it.


That's what happened this year. One of my friends is a jeweller and she makes the most stunning jewellery in all styles. My preference is for clean, sleek lines, so this is what I chose from her range.

If you'd like to see her site, its Sparkling Jewellery HERE

Happy Valentine's Day to you, however you celebrate.
xx