Piano Man

My shiny new manuscript now has a working title, courtesy of lovely fellow minx, Suzanne Jones.

It will henceforth be referred to as 'Piano Man', because it features a man who may or may not be able to play the piano... he is def good with his hands, in any case.

I am so enjoying pulling together ideas for this one. I've settled on names for the principle characters - they suddenly become alive in your head when they have a name, don't they?

Have I mentioned that I am lining myself up as Jenny Crusie's number one fan / stalker? I've read a couple of her books over Christmas, and jeez Louise, I am in awe. Am half way through another of her books at the moment and keep reading eeeny miiny little tiny chunks because I don't want it to end.
Err... have forgotten why i'm mentioning this in relation to the name thing I said before hand... but that is okay, because time spent extolling the fabulousness of Jenny Crusie's books is never wasted. OH, HANG ON! I've remembered!

It was that when she's in the early planning stage of a book, she builds these clever, gorgeous 3d collage / models to help round the story out in her head. (I know this because I am her stalker. Nuff said).
I am toying with the idea of having a go at making one, visual things work for me. I like to create the whole world of my book with pictures, sound tracks, so a collage is right up my street.

So, yeah. Piano man it is, until further notice.

Blankety Blank

New file on desktop called "New manuscript".

New word document open called "New manuscript".

Guess i'll be attempting a brand spanking new manuscript, then...

Still breathing... just.

Scrape me up someone, i've just come to the end of editing my ST manuscript, THE LIGHTHOUSE.
I have somehow ended up with more words than the last draft. Err, that doesn't sound very good, does it?

But... ( and yes, here comes the bit where I justify myself wildly. Yeah, but.... yeah, but... )

But... I know that I edit quite heavily as I write, so I might not be the speediest but I do write quite clean.
And also, in my defence, I have added in a couple of whole new scenes, so am landing the blame squarely on that.
That's my story and i'm sticking to it. And it's my story, so I can do what I like at this stage, lol!

Have since printed it out and of course am now spotting a zillion places to re-edit the edited edits. (Did I just have a Donald Rumsfeld moment?)
It's a bit like painting the Forth bridge. When does it end? When should you stop tinkering? Do I go back in for another round? No clue.
It's ended up at 83k, which is kind of where I was hoping to be so am glad.

I have to say a mahoosive thank you to the fabulous, gorgeous, ever-so-clever and eagle-eyed minxes, for not shouting IT'S SHITE at the top of their voices, and for sticking a mirror under my nose every now and then to make sure i'm still breathing. You are super cool ladies, I thank my lucky stars.

Am going to take a breather. By the looks of the lists the kids have already stuck on the fridge, Christmas is coming...

Authonomy

My name is Joanne, and i'm addicted to Authonomy.

Or actually, my Authonomy writing name is Millie, but either way, I have a new fave writing site to add to my list. I've chosen Millie as it's a shortening of my maiden name, and one of my best buddies always calls me by it so it feels familiar. In the land that dreams are made of, i'd like to have it as my published name.

Boy oh boy, Authonomy is huge! I have no clue what i'm doing yet, but am hoping to get the hang of it soon.

I've lurked on there since starting to write the ST, and this morning I finally took the plunge and uploaded the first three chapters. If anyone fancies a read, they're here:

The Lighthouse by Millie J

I've been really fortunate with comments so far, and have found so many new books to read. Have had a really giddy, happy kind of day.

Authonomy rocks!

Big news in my world

Yesterday I :

1) Made chicken soup
2) Vacuumed
3) Prevaricated over new boots
4) Posted the partial of my ST to agent in London
3) Drank wine to calm nerves


Did you spot the big huge scary thing in there? And no, not the vacuuming.

Yesterday was  D-Day. I  posted off the partial of 'The Lighthouse', along with a query letter that i've already decided was beyond stupid and the synopsis that near killed me and still includes a dead dog.

Not to mention the fact that I forgot to include the self addressed stamped envelope.

Aaargh!

Had huge debate with myself over whether to send it separately, but then wouldn't that just draw attention to the fact and  look even worse?

It's no wonder I needed wine to calm down, is it? Am still feeling slightly hysterical, and am aware it's not going to get easier waiting for the mail every day for the foreseeable. At least I know there won't be a great thump as my m/s comes back, because I failed to send the flippin' envelope!

But anyway, it's gone. Wish me luck?

One dead dog away from a country song

My synopsis, that is.

The damn thing is massive, it's killing me. Am putting up a brave battle, but it's winning at the moment.

It needs to be one sheet of A4 to fit the agents submission criteria, and it's currently *cough* about four.

And what's worse, there actually is a dead dog in it.

Will not go to bed tonight until it's done.

Miles to go before I sleep...

The End

Today was a happy dance day in my house - I finally typed 'The End' at, well, the end of the first draft of my manuscript.
Am going to spend the next couple of weeks with the kids, and then when they go back to school it's onwards to revisions. Am looking forward to it!