The National Year of Reading

Did you know that 2008 has been designated The National Year of Reading?

You can read more about it in my latest article for MyVillage.com, at: http://www.myvillage.com/london/fe-community_year-of-reading.htm

There will be activities and events across the country and they want YOU to be a part of it! :o)

p.s. Editing of the Mystical Wombat is going great - two chapters complete!

Now the hard work begins...

It's time. I can put it off no longer. The Wombat must be edited!

You may remember that I completed my NaNoWriMo novel, The Mystical Wombat's Guide to Life , last November and now, after a couple of months' rest, I have to begin the daunting task of editing it!

I printed it out last night (all 193 pages, much to my poor printer's chagrin) and tonight the task begins. I have my crack proofreading team - Mum, the lovely Bob and best mate Helen - all lined up, prepped and ready. So, one chapter at a time, here I go!

It's scary and it's going to be a lot of hard work, but it's going to be worth it. And, it might just change my life!

Bearing in mind that I will, once again, be entering the organised chaos that is novel writing, any messages of hope, inspiration or offers of chocolate will be gratefully received! The plan is to podcast the chapters as I go, so watch out for news on that very soon.

So... takes large breath, rolls up sleeves and adopts stern, determined expression here goes...

Sometimes you need to sit up and take notice...

A friend on My Writers Circle posted this video about the plight of Orangutans in Borneo.

It just made me sit up and take notice. Sometimes mankind needs to understand what we are doing to our world. There's such a delicate balance in nature, yet our greed and desire for development often ignores this, arrogantly intent on getting what mankind wants, no matter what cost.

Please take a few minutes to watch this. Sorry for the preach, but sometimes we need to sit up and take notice. Thanks for watching.

The Notorious Cinnamon Kid Raid!!

As you know, I adore words - which is handy, if you're a writer!

But I have to say that crosswords don't thrill me - unless they're someone else's, in which case I rock ... In fact, word games of all descriptions frustrate me and I'm rubbish at scrabble.

But I have finally found a word game that's amusing - anagrams!

On a random anagram generator I found recently, my name becomes Cinnamon Kid Raid - which I like very much! It sounds like a notorious Wild West happening... Maybe the Cinnamon Kid was so named for her raids on unsuspecting Coffee Houses of the Old West. She'd mosey into town, order a Cinnamon Latté and terrorise the store owners until they surrendered all their finest cakes and pastries. The only clue she'd ever leave behind would be a trail of cinnamon powder, as she rode into the sunset.

So, forget the Milky Bar Kid and Billy the Kid - there's a new Kid in town. Hold onto your pastries, Mother, the Cinnamon Kid's a'coming on a Raid!

Job hunting... HELP!!

Well, it's THAT time again...

The debts are mounting and it's time to find another job... **grimaces**

It is, quite possibly, THE most scary thing right now as I'm aware I could end up absolutely anywhere and I've just got myself comfy in my current job. But the bank won't be too impressed if I carry on losing money, so it's off to the job centre I go...

My CV is sparkly new, I have an impressive new portfolio of stuff - now all I need is someone to give me a better paid job... So, if you know someone who is looking for a creative Copywriter with over seven years' experience, or you're a publisher looking for the next writing sensation, PLEASE get in touch!!

Well, it's worth a try, isn't it?! :o)

Big Scary Goals for 2008...

Right, I'm a bit nervous about this, but here goes:

The Official BIG SCARY GOAL List 2008

1. EDIT The Mystical Wombat's Guide to Life and submit to a publisher by July
2. CREATE and post Podcasts of the novel
3. LEARN to speak Italian to conversational level AND record a song in the language
4. COMPLETE my album About Time by the end of the year
5. LOSE 1 stone by the summer

Eek!

There. Tis done! I'm a great believer in making myself do things, so now I've said it, I have to do it!

2008... The year of... umm...

Happy New Year!!

OK, so it's a little late, but hey at least it's still January!

I haven't got resolutions as such this year, just some Big Scary Challenges that I've set myself - one of which is to find a publisher for The Mystical Wombat's Guide to Life. Instead of talking about it, I'm actually going to go ahead and do it (even though just typing that scares the heck out of me!) I'm working on getting the manuscript ready for the first Mystical Wombat Podcast - which is great fun and, I hope, will be a slightly different way to get my words out there into the big wide world. News on that as it happens...

I've put some more articles up at Helium.com - a novel excerpt and a drama script to boot! I'm also still working on the album, so I definitely want to see that put to bed before the end of the year.

Will it all happen? Who knows, but right now I'm feeling positive...