I'm almost there!

Yesterday was an exciting day for me, as I sat at my computer I realized I had almost come to the end of my book. I thought maybe tonight I would finish my second draft (which has taken much longer than my first draft did). I haven't finished it, but I am so close. I need some fresh eyes so will look at it again tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be writing again tomorrow to say it's done!
It is such a long process no wonder so many people who start to write a book never finish. It's just hours at the computer and music for me.
Well I may just go and read before going to sleep. I love a night without TV, don't you?

Spiders!

I'm not sure what your thoughts are on spiders, mine—I just don't like them. We have lots of spiders in Melbourne at the moment, due to wetter then normal weather conditions. All sorts of spiders. I don't mind the orb spiders, or the little jumping spiders, even dirty long legs. I can deal with a huntsman from a distance. I hate all the others, especially the big black fat ones that are hiding in my fence next to my washing line. In fact I think they have invaded my garden and as I sit here writing this I can feel imaginary spiders crawling all over me. That may have something to do with the fact that I was just outside watering my garden in the dark, I felt something on my legs and kept moving them, thinking the mozzies were getting me, but then I looked down. Two big black hairy things one on each leg. I let our a well stoppered shriek and squirted my legs with the hose. My heart hammering in my chest I looked down at the ground and it seemed that there were spiders everywhere. I tried to water the garden form the front door step instead. Then I came inside and told my hubby, he grabbed a torch and searched the garden and found nothing, not one! I swear there were two on me. God I hate spiders.

Christmas and New Years

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

This is my new car. BMW X3. Nice ha. Here's the funny story:

Several weeks before Christmas I received an e-mail asking me to ring a number in regards to a prize. I thought about it, showed it to my hubby, then did nothing. My hubby said it would be worth giving then a call. A week later I received another e-mail, this time I picked up my phone straight away and made the call. The lady on the other end said I've been waiting for this call, you've won a BMW! I didn't really believe it, but then the results were published in the paper, then we went to the dealership I drove away with a brand new car!

It is a beautiful car but I think we'll sell. Just thought I'd share the story, sometimes people really do win things.

What are you all reading at the moment?

Get Blogging

So a rejection e-mail made its way into my inbox the other day. But it was the most positive rejection e-mail I've received. Encouraging me to submit my story with other journals or magazines. I have a list of journals and magazines that I want to submit to, so when through my list, found someone who is accepting submissions at the moment and sent it off, the same day. It feels much better then sticking the story into a drawer and walking away.

Anyway to other things. I'm reading the Game of Thrones novels still, they are very dense, but I am really enjoying them. I'm hoping to finish soon so I can read Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. I've had the book for months now, but have been reading other books and been busy. Today I read on Laini's Blog click here that Universal Pictures have optioned the book! I'm excited about that too. And I loved her quote today in regards to her daughter who is a little sick: "To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world." Probably because I have a little daughter, I call her my baby and she says "no mummy I'm a big girl".

I recently went and saw the new Twilight movie, and absolutely loved it. It may be because I loved the books so much.

And I have been very slack on the writing front. I reached 60 000 words on my second draft which was exciting, but that was a week ago. So I'm trying to give give myself a kick up the butt, but can't quite reach.

The time to write.

It's hard to find, but tonight I did. I've hit 60,000 words, yay! Eaten a lot of chocolate and now have a sore back from sitting so long in the same position.
My characters are having a hard time and may have just been exposed for the supernatural creatures they are:
“You’re more worried about me than that thing I just killed, there’s hundreds of them up here, and if we don’t leave they’ll be here, soon.”
Brody nodded, “They’re coming. Put your gun down and we’ll get you safely back, keep it aimed at my friend and we’ll leave you.”
Still gun man was unconvinced.
“Put the gun down Gus,” one of the girls said.
He grunted, but let it drop. We started moving down the mountain.
“I’m gonna want answers but.”
“And you’ll get them,” Brody said.
But we all knew that wasn’t going to happen.


Tomorrow is another day, I hope I get another couple of hours to write, because when I don't write I daydream.
Cheers,
Tristy.

Guilty pleasures

Whats yours? Chocolate, alcohol, chick flicks, trashy telly?
I like reading, even when I know I should be doing something else,  like the washing, cleaning the house, etc. Or in tonight's case, watching episodes of True Blood, season 4. I've just watched episode 11, one to go, and I'm trying to figure out how to do it. Obviously I can't watch it when my daughter is awake, I can't watch it now (I'd have to down load it first anyway), so should I just pretend to be working on my computer tomorrow night? Like I did tonight. It just feels so guilty. My guilty pleasure.
I did write a little tonight and am up to 57,000 words into my second draft, which I've re-written because I wasn't so happy with my first draft, but then who is?
I also got my uni result this last week, Distinction and High Distinction, gives me a Distinction average for the course. Uni felt a bit like a guilty pleasure as well, putting everything else on hold so I could read the course work and do assignments, and now that I'm finished I wonder when I had the time to study.
Got to read my book club book this week, 'Let the great world spin' by Colum McCann http://www.colummccann.com/
I'll let you know what I think when I've read it.

Hope everyone's weekends were filled with guilty pleasures!

Working on it

Today I sent off a short story. It will be ages till I hear either way, but I feel like it is a positive step towards being published. I have another story ready to send off as well. It has taken a long time to write and polish these two stories, but I've discovered a lot about the writing and publishing process over this last year.

I'm still working on my novel, here is my proof:
My eye’s adjusted to the yellow dancing candle light flickering by Jake's bed. Dust had settled on me and it shifted when I sat and puffed into the air. Jake's chest rose and fell, slowly. His heart was still beating but his body was fading away, we really had to get answers, figure out what as going on with him.

I'm reading book 3 of Game of Thrones and loving it. I just finished reading 'Dead Reckoning' book 11 of the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris, and enjoyed that. I love following the same character through different books. I always feel a sense of loss when I get to the end of a book, it's not so bad if there is another one to come.

If you're not reading, write. If you're not writing, read.

Cheers,
Tristy.