Thanks to Amanda for pointing out on her blog that Little Black Dress books are buy one get one free (BOGOF) at Tesco! I got four on my way home tonight. Just don't mention it to my husband since I still have four other LBD books that I haven't had time to read yet. I will get round to reading them all eventually.
And does anyone from New Zealand know if Friday the 13th is also known as Black Friday? I'm sure all Friday the 13th's are called Black Friday in NZ. I assumed it was the same here but my husband just looked at me like I was crazy when I mentioned it tonight.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
sent!
Well, I finally did it. I finished polishing up Rules one last time and emailed a query to an agent tonight. This is the first time I've queried an agent so I'm a little bit nervous!
The good thing is that I'm finally happy with Rules so I don't plan on going back and continually tweaking it anymore. At least, not unless I get a full request and then I'll obviously have to give it another run through! So, with Rules out of the way, I'm free to move onto No Maternal Instinct and also study.
Study took a back seat this week while I completed Rules but it's top of my list for April and May, after catching up with my sleep first!
The good thing is that I'm finally happy with Rules so I don't plan on going back and continually tweaking it anymore. At least, not unless I get a full request and then I'll obviously have to give it another run through! So, with Rules out of the way, I'm free to move onto No Maternal Instinct and also study.
Study took a back seat this week while I completed Rules but it's top of my list for April and May, after catching up with my sleep first!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
getting closer!
I'm getting closer to finishing Rules. I have just 20 more pages to polish up. Of course, they have been polished twice before. This is the final, final, final polish before I start querying agents.
Today, I spent my lunch hour in Starbucks, sitting at a table with a hot chocolate and a piece of lemon victoria sponge, red pen in hand polishing the previous few chapters. I felt like JK Rowling!
I would desperately like to finish Rules tonight but it is just after 11.30pm and my dh has just pointed out that I have to go to work tomorrow. I've been tired all week because I've been up late every night either working or writing.
Roll on the weekend, and Easter! And the end of May because then my three exams will be over and I'll be going on holiday!
In the meantime, roll on tomorrow lunchtime when I'll be looking for somewhere to sit quietly with my final 20 pages.
Today, I spent my lunch hour in Starbucks, sitting at a table with a hot chocolate and a piece of lemon victoria sponge, red pen in hand polishing the previous few chapters. I felt like JK Rowling!
I would desperately like to finish Rules tonight but it is just after 11.30pm and my dh has just pointed out that I have to go to work tomorrow. I've been tired all week because I've been up late every night either working or writing.
Roll on the weekend, and Easter! And the end of May because then my three exams will be over and I'll be going on holiday!
In the meantime, roll on tomorrow lunchtime when I'll be looking for somewhere to sit quietly with my final 20 pages.
Monday, March 26, 2007
hello world!
It's nearly 9pm. I've just got home from a work related course, which I went to straight from work. I've still got to eat my dinner and I have a thousand very important and non-writing related things to do but...here I am, sitting on the sofa having logged onto my laptop because something very exciting happened as I was sitting the number 4 bus on the way to my course today. The opening paragraph for No Maternal Instinct came to me! I just have to get it into a word doc before I do another thing! This ms has been brewing away in my mind forever. I still don't know the plot but at least I finally have my opening. This is going to be one of those mss where I just write and then piece it all together at the end. Boy, am I excited! But don't panic, I haven't forgotten about finishing Rules. I have printed the final chapters and will start going through them with a red pen during my lunch break tomorrow. Just gotta get this opening down while it's in my head - and while dinner is still cooking!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
nearly there!
I didn't get Rules completely finished this weekend but I. AM. NEARLY. THERE! I edited 17 chapters this weekend and I am happy with them. I'm on the final stretch. I couldn't do any more over the weekend because I still have to limit my computer time because of the headaches. I'm going on a work related course tomorrow night after work but hope to get Rules sorted by Wednesday.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
a good day!
I had good news today that I can't blog about - but I wanted to mention it anyway because it seems like I only blog about being ill or feeling down about my writing most of the time. Today was a good day! There was the good news, plus the headaches I've been suffering from lately seem to have just about gone (touch wood) possibly due to all the changes I've made to my usual working habits, including dramatically reducing the amount of time spent writing on my laptop in the evenings. On the writing front, I am nearly finished revising Rules again (I will get it done this weekend) and I'm also dying to start a new ms that has been brewing in my head forever! I'm off to study for a short while before heading to bed.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
yippie!
Yippie because it's the start of the Formula 1 season tomorrow! Actually, in six and a half hours, since it's in Melbourne, Australia. I'm toying with the idea of setting the alarm for 3am so I can watch it! Sundays are just not the same without a couple of hours of F1.
It's been an odd week. I'm having eye sight problems, which has meant raging headaches and spending as little time as possible in front of a computer - difficult when sitting in front of a computer is what I do from 9am-5pm week days. I'm booked in for an eye test on Monday morning so hopefully things will settle down when the new glasses (I know I'm going to need new glasses...) arrive.
And I also tried very hard to break my wrist during the week. Not hard enough, thankfully. My wrist is bruised and hurting but not significantly so.
The up side of all this is that I've got plenty of study done this week. My eyes, it seems, are able to cope with everything other than staring at a computer screen. Also been reading My Three Husbands by Swan Adamson, which is hiliarious!
It's been an odd week. I'm having eye sight problems, which has meant raging headaches and spending as little time as possible in front of a computer - difficult when sitting in front of a computer is what I do from 9am-5pm week days. I'm booked in for an eye test on Monday morning so hopefully things will settle down when the new glasses (I know I'm going to need new glasses...) arrive.
And I also tried very hard to break my wrist during the week. Not hard enough, thankfully. My wrist is bruised and hurting but not significantly so.
The up side of all this is that I've got plenty of study done this week. My eyes, it seems, are able to cope with everything other than staring at a computer screen. Also been reading My Three Husbands by Swan Adamson, which is hiliarious!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
famous people
Which famous person, dead or alive, would you most like to meet and why?
I'd been pondering over my answer to this question - it's one from the magazine that I mentioned on Friday - for ages so switched on my laptop so I could email a few friends to ask their advice. Sally was on MSN so I asked her and as she was writing back to me, I came up with my answer...
Sir Peter Blake!
It's a wonder I didn't think of him instantly considering I have an inspirational quote from Sir Peter Blake's last diary entry before he was killed on my desk:
"To win, you have to believe you can do it, you have to be passionate about it, you have to really "want" the result -- even if this means years of work, the hardest part of any big project is to begin, we have begun, we are underway, we have a passion." Sir Peter Blake, Tuesday December 4, 2001
Who would you like most to meet and why?
I'd been pondering over my answer to this question - it's one from the magazine that I mentioned on Friday - for ages so switched on my laptop so I could email a few friends to ask their advice. Sally was on MSN so I asked her and as she was writing back to me, I came up with my answer...
Sir Peter Blake!
It's a wonder I didn't think of him instantly considering I have an inspirational quote from Sir Peter Blake's last diary entry before he was killed on my desk:
"To win, you have to believe you can do it, you have to be passionate about it, you have to really "want" the result -- even if this means years of work, the hardest part of any big project is to begin, we have begun, we are underway, we have a passion." Sir Peter Blake, Tuesday December 4, 2001
Who would you like most to meet and why?
Friday, March 09, 2007
exciting news!
I've had a pretty cool day!
I'm going to be in a magazine! Of course, it's a purchasing magazine so it's probably not that exciting to anyone but me...and my manager! I got the phone call about 4.30pm today. It all has to be run passed our corporate affairs people first but I'm going to work on it this weekend just in case they give it the green light.
It's nothing flash - just a piece for a people & jobs page where they have a half page Q&A with someone in the industry each issue.
In other news, I made a bit of a fool of myself today! I went to a very important meeting where a police chief inspector was giving an update on an issue - and yes I am delibrately being vague about where and what this meeting was!
As we were sitting waiting for the meeting to start, I browsed through the agenda then leaned over to my colleague and said in a loud excited schoolgirl-ish voice "the chief inspector is going to be here". My colleague pointed to the person sitting directly in front of him, who turned around and grinned at me...the chief inspector himself!
Opps!
Then another colleague and I had a giggle after the meeting when, as we were collecting our coats from the cloakroom, we spotted the chief inspector's hat... Ah, women can be so childish sometimes!
Tomorrow should also be pretty cool. I'm going to an RNA meeting where I'll meet Jessica Hart for the first time, which is pretty cool because I've been working on her website for about 18 months and we've only spoken on the phone once. The rest is done via email.
And since the meeting's location is near Oxford St, first I shall be visiting Books Etc - which is like my idea of heaven! - and will probably spend an hour or so in the Starbucks inside Books Etc doing some study - less cool but important.
I'm going to be in a magazine! Of course, it's a purchasing magazine so it's probably not that exciting to anyone but me...and my manager! I got the phone call about 4.30pm today. It all has to be run passed our corporate affairs people first but I'm going to work on it this weekend just in case they give it the green light.
It's nothing flash - just a piece for a people & jobs page where they have a half page Q&A with someone in the industry each issue.
In other news, I made a bit of a fool of myself today! I went to a very important meeting where a police chief inspector was giving an update on an issue - and yes I am delibrately being vague about where and what this meeting was!
As we were sitting waiting for the meeting to start, I browsed through the agenda then leaned over to my colleague and said in a loud excited schoolgirl-ish voice "the chief inspector is going to be here". My colleague pointed to the person sitting directly in front of him, who turned around and grinned at me...the chief inspector himself!
Opps!
Then another colleague and I had a giggle after the meeting when, as we were collecting our coats from the cloakroom, we spotted the chief inspector's hat... Ah, women can be so childish sometimes!
Tomorrow should also be pretty cool. I'm going to an RNA meeting where I'll meet Jessica Hart for the first time, which is pretty cool because I've been working on her website for about 18 months and we've only spoken on the phone once. The rest is done via email.
And since the meeting's location is near Oxford St, first I shall be visiting Books Etc - which is like my idea of heaven! - and will probably spend an hour or so in the Starbucks inside Books Etc doing some study - less cool but important.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
feeling flat
I'm feeling strangely flat tonight. I'm not sure why. I had a great day at work and came home to a perfect night of tv viewing and also had the added delight of finding my level 5 graduate diploma certificate in the post.
I'm quite proud of it! I've taken it out of its "please do not bend" envelope several times to stare at it. I'm even thinking of getting it framed. The institute has commissioned a frame company to produce frames with the institute name on them in gold lettering.
It may sound stupid but I'd like to get it framed. When I graduated from journalism college, I had that certificate framed (OK, probably my parents paid for it!) and I hung it on the wall in my office. These days that certificate is in a box in a filing cabinet at work but then a journalism certificate isn't really relevant to procurement!
This certificate won't be making it onto a wall at work because it's simply not the done thing in the team I work in. All going well, I'll have a certificate for the next level in September, which reminds me, I need to get studying!
The excitement of the certificate arriving was dulled somewhat by the arrival of an email from our landlord saying he needs to put the rent up. It's not a mega increase and wasn't unexpected given recent interest rate decisions, however it does mean that we are now at the very very very high end of the scale (OK, right at the top!) for a place like ours in this area.
Unfortunately, we are going to have to give moving some very serious consideration.
We've been here four years now and I like this place but it does have its faults - such as being like a sauna in summer and an ice box in winter! But a potential house move is something I could well do without right now seeing as how I seem to be back where I was in 2005; with an ill husband and the prospect of losing my job.
So, on that less than cheery note, I'm off to flick through my copy of Carole Blake's From Pitch to Publication, Donald Maass' Writing the Breakout Novel, and Janet Evanovich's How I Write.
I expect things will seem rosier tomorrow. I certainly hope so.
I'm quite proud of it! I've taken it out of its "please do not bend" envelope several times to stare at it. I'm even thinking of getting it framed. The institute has commissioned a frame company to produce frames with the institute name on them in gold lettering.
It may sound stupid but I'd like to get it framed. When I graduated from journalism college, I had that certificate framed (OK, probably my parents paid for it!) and I hung it on the wall in my office. These days that certificate is in a box in a filing cabinet at work but then a journalism certificate isn't really relevant to procurement!
This certificate won't be making it onto a wall at work because it's simply not the done thing in the team I work in. All going well, I'll have a certificate for the next level in September, which reminds me, I need to get studying!
The excitement of the certificate arriving was dulled somewhat by the arrival of an email from our landlord saying he needs to put the rent up. It's not a mega increase and wasn't unexpected given recent interest rate decisions, however it does mean that we are now at the very very very high end of the scale (OK, right at the top!) for a place like ours in this area.
Unfortunately, we are going to have to give moving some very serious consideration.
We've been here four years now and I like this place but it does have its faults - such as being like a sauna in summer and an ice box in winter! But a potential house move is something I could well do without right now seeing as how I seem to be back where I was in 2005; with an ill husband and the prospect of losing my job.
So, on that less than cheery note, I'm off to flick through my copy of Carole Blake's From Pitch to Publication, Donald Maass' Writing the Breakout Novel, and Janet Evanovich's How I Write.
I expect things will seem rosier tomorrow. I certainly hope so.
Monday, March 05, 2007
woman appeals for egg donor on buses
I'm not busy tonight, I'm just tired. But I'm still going to point you in the direction of another couple of websites:
Woman Appeals for Egg Donor on Buses
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6420111.stm
A 54-year-old woman and her husband are advertising for an egg donor on London buses in a last-ditch attempt to try to have a baby. Linda Weeks, from Maidstone, Kent, is spending £2,000 on the appeal, which will run for a month from 19 March. Mrs Weeks and her husband Richard got married in 1993, and the 50 adverts include a wedding day photo. "If we don't have any luck this time, then that will be the end for us," Mrs Weeks admitted. Her fertility clinic in London cannot continue to treat her after the age of 55, meaning she has just over a year left to find a donor.
You can read more about Linda Weeks' story on her blog:
http://infertilewoman.spaces.live.com/
And you can also learn more about the egg donor process here:
http://www.logancentre.co.uk/docs/donor1.htm
I don't know why but this is something that interests me. I've researched the process before and I like the idea of helping someone in this way. Have you done it or do you know someone who has?
Woman Appeals for Egg Donor on Buses
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6420111.stm
A 54-year-old woman and her husband are advertising for an egg donor on London buses in a last-ditch attempt to try to have a baby. Linda Weeks, from Maidstone, Kent, is spending £2,000 on the appeal, which will run for a month from 19 March. Mrs Weeks and her husband Richard got married in 1993, and the 50 adverts include a wedding day photo. "If we don't have any luck this time, then that will be the end for us," Mrs Weeks admitted. Her fertility clinic in London cannot continue to treat her after the age of 55, meaning she has just over a year left to find a donor.
You can read more about Linda Weeks' story on her blog:
http://infertilewoman.spaces.live.com/
And you can also learn more about the egg donor process here:
http://www.logancentre.co.uk/docs/donor1.htm
I don't know why but this is something that interests me. I've researched the process before and I like the idea of helping someone in this way. Have you done it or do you know someone who has?
Sunday, March 04, 2007
things
I had a manic week at work last week and have spent most of the weekend sleeping as a result. However, I am now curled up on my bean bag with a rug and a pillow, alternating between studying for an hour or so and writing for an hour or so. Shortly, I'll take a break so I put a roast on for dinner.
As I'm busy, I'll direct you to two fantastic sites:
Go to http://phillipa-ashley.com/blog to read about a cool competition Waterstones are running. I've got the Waterstones magazine and March's Cosmopolitan (much to my husband's amusement because he knows I do not normally buy magazines like that!) and am currently pondering over my entry.
And also visit http://www.jessicahart.co.uk/ for information on a Romantic Novelists' Association event on March 10th which I will be going to. I'd love to know if anyone else is going.
As I'm busy, I'll direct you to two fantastic sites:
Go to http://phillipa-ashley.com/blog to read about a cool competition Waterstones are running. I've got the Waterstones magazine and March's Cosmopolitan (much to my husband's amusement because he knows I do not normally buy magazines like that!) and am currently pondering over my entry.
And also visit http://www.jessicahart.co.uk/ for information on a Romantic Novelists' Association event on March 10th which I will be going to. I'd love to know if anyone else is going.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
the hunt is on!
The hunt for an agent has begun! I've spent a couple of hours on the internet tonight looking at the websites of Little Black Dress authors and a few other authors whose books I love reading looking for the names of their agents. Names found, I visited the agents websites and have been printing pages and taking notes. So far I have a list of seven agents, which is a good starting point.
But I have so many questions!
The first question...
Is it OK to submit to more than one agent at a time? Most of them seem to suggest that they won't read your query/proposal/first 10 pages if you've sent it to more than one agent at a time. Some say they'll get back to you in seven days/two weeks/eight weeks. If I was to send my query/proposal/first 10 pages to one agent at a time this could take a while!
The second question...
Do I mention this ms is with a publisher? I sent the first seven chapters into a publisher after a brief email conversation with an editor in September.
The third question...
Do I mention the ideas I have for other mss or that I have already completed a few other mss?
I'm sure I have other questions but that's enough for now!
But I have so many questions!
The first question...
Is it OK to submit to more than one agent at a time? Most of them seem to suggest that they won't read your query/proposal/first 10 pages if you've sent it to more than one agent at a time. Some say they'll get back to you in seven days/two weeks/eight weeks. If I was to send my query/proposal/first 10 pages to one agent at a time this could take a while!
The second question...
Do I mention this ms is with a publisher? I sent the first seven chapters into a publisher after a brief email conversation with an editor in September.
The third question...
Do I mention the ideas I have for other mss or that I have already completed a few other mss?
I'm sure I have other questions but that's enough for now!
Saturday, February 24, 2007
rejection
The title says it all really - I got a rejection letter in the post from M&B today. I knew it (well, a letter) was coming because I gave in to temptation yesterday and emailed the office to ask for an update on my ms since I sent it into them in September 2006 and got a reply saying a letter had been written the day before.
As rejections go, I guess it was one of the "good" ones because the editor said I have a lively contemporary voice and then went on to explain what didn't work about my ms for her. She also mentioned my past submissions and told me what I should focus on in my writing, and she also gave me a comps slip to send in with my next submission.
I'm not sure that there's going to be another submission. I feel like I'm back at a crossroads that I know I've been at before. I started submitting to M&B in June 2003. The same editor has read all of my submissions and every time she's sent me a rejection letter she's also sent me a comps slip asking me to send her something else.
My M&B history has gone like this:
June 2003 - sent in The Wrong Brother which got a revisions request on the partial followed by a full request but was eventually rejected in October 2003. I know, it all happened very fast! I still love this story and haven't given up on it just yet.
December 2003 - sent in Sea of Dreams which was rejected in March 2004.
March 2004 - sent in The Italian's City Bride which got a revisions request on the partial but was then rejected in October 2004. I definitely still love this one!
December 2004 - M&B asked to see The Wrong Brother again because I mentioned I'd revised it so I sent the revised full in. It was rejected in April 2005.
July 2005 - sent in Tarts Inc. All my previous submissions had been aimed at the M&B Tender line but an announcement about the line changing was made just before my last rejection and I didn't think my voice fitted the new direction so I decided to try something a little different. Tarts Inc was aimed at the new Modern Extra line. It got a revisions request and a full request but was eventually rejected in September 2006.
September 2006 - sent in Heaven Sent, which has just been rejected.
So why am I at a crossroads? The editor's advice in this rejection and the one before was to keep reading the current books as this gives the best idea of what they want. My problem? Apart from Kelly Hunter's books, I'm really not reading M&Bs much.
I do have one other submission that I could send in but it doesn't have any Modern X elements (those that read Modern X's will know what I mean by that!) and I have recently come to the conclusion that I'm not actually a Modern X writer because I don't feel comfortable writing those scenes!
Aside from that, I simply don't think I have any more M&B material in me. I have ideas but they're not M&B style.
I'm currently polishing up Rules - the seven first chapters of which are at Little Black Dress - with the intention of sending it to an agent or two. I have three previous mss which, having been left sitting for some time, I'm now keen to drag back out and polish up also with the intention of looking for an agent. I've got the baby idea and the allotment idea that have been running around in my head for many, many months, and I've got two partially written mss originally aimed at M&B that haven't been completed or sent anywhere that I could do something with, although they're not suitable for M&B anymore.
Don't think I'm looking for sympathy here because I'm not. I admit to feeling slightly offended by the content of my rejection letter and bemused at the same time (why keep sending me those comps slips when my writing clearly isn't going in the right direction for them?) but the underlying feeling here is that it's time for a change of direction.
As I said earlier, this isn't a new feeling. I was at this place when I was writing Tarts. I'd sent M&B the partial and while I waited to hear back the ms turn a look that I wasn't expecting - it wanted to be written in first person as a mainstream book - so I thought long and hard before deciding what to do when the full request came. In the end I wrote it as a M&B and it eventually got rejected. But it didn't die there because I went back to the beginning and finished the first person, mainstream version, which become known as Breaking the Rules.
I guess I'm putting everything I've got on Rules right now. Ultimately, if it doesn't go anywhere, I'm going to put the writing to one side until I've finished my masters in procurement.
Yes, you heard me right. Even though I still have seven exams to sit this year before I complete my graduate diploma, I've already decided that having finished it, I will go on and do my masters. Then I can be Monica Cole, MCIPS, MSc. Surely all those letters will make me feel good!
Right now, the only thing that could possibly make me feel better is chocolate so I'm off to eat lots of it!
As rejections go, I guess it was one of the "good" ones because the editor said I have a lively contemporary voice and then went on to explain what didn't work about my ms for her. She also mentioned my past submissions and told me what I should focus on in my writing, and she also gave me a comps slip to send in with my next submission.
I'm not sure that there's going to be another submission. I feel like I'm back at a crossroads that I know I've been at before. I started submitting to M&B in June 2003. The same editor has read all of my submissions and every time she's sent me a rejection letter she's also sent me a comps slip asking me to send her something else.
My M&B history has gone like this:
June 2003 - sent in The Wrong Brother which got a revisions request on the partial followed by a full request but was eventually rejected in October 2003. I know, it all happened very fast! I still love this story and haven't given up on it just yet.
December 2003 - sent in Sea of Dreams which was rejected in March 2004.
March 2004 - sent in The Italian's City Bride which got a revisions request on the partial but was then rejected in October 2004. I definitely still love this one!
December 2004 - M&B asked to see The Wrong Brother again because I mentioned I'd revised it so I sent the revised full in. It was rejected in April 2005.
July 2005 - sent in Tarts Inc. All my previous submissions had been aimed at the M&B Tender line but an announcement about the line changing was made just before my last rejection and I didn't think my voice fitted the new direction so I decided to try something a little different. Tarts Inc was aimed at the new Modern Extra line. It got a revisions request and a full request but was eventually rejected in September 2006.
September 2006 - sent in Heaven Sent, which has just been rejected.
So why am I at a crossroads? The editor's advice in this rejection and the one before was to keep reading the current books as this gives the best idea of what they want. My problem? Apart from Kelly Hunter's books, I'm really not reading M&Bs much.
I do have one other submission that I could send in but it doesn't have any Modern X elements (those that read Modern X's will know what I mean by that!) and I have recently come to the conclusion that I'm not actually a Modern X writer because I don't feel comfortable writing those scenes!
Aside from that, I simply don't think I have any more M&B material in me. I have ideas but they're not M&B style.
I'm currently polishing up Rules - the seven first chapters of which are at Little Black Dress - with the intention of sending it to an agent or two. I have three previous mss which, having been left sitting for some time, I'm now keen to drag back out and polish up also with the intention of looking for an agent. I've got the baby idea and the allotment idea that have been running around in my head for many, many months, and I've got two partially written mss originally aimed at M&B that haven't been completed or sent anywhere that I could do something with, although they're not suitable for M&B anymore.
Don't think I'm looking for sympathy here because I'm not. I admit to feeling slightly offended by the content of my rejection letter and bemused at the same time (why keep sending me those comps slips when my writing clearly isn't going in the right direction for them?) but the underlying feeling here is that it's time for a change of direction.
As I said earlier, this isn't a new feeling. I was at this place when I was writing Tarts. I'd sent M&B the partial and while I waited to hear back the ms turn a look that I wasn't expecting - it wanted to be written in first person as a mainstream book - so I thought long and hard before deciding what to do when the full request came. In the end I wrote it as a M&B and it eventually got rejected. But it didn't die there because I went back to the beginning and finished the first person, mainstream version, which become known as Breaking the Rules.
I guess I'm putting everything I've got on Rules right now. Ultimately, if it doesn't go anywhere, I'm going to put the writing to one side until I've finished my masters in procurement.
Yes, you heard me right. Even though I still have seven exams to sit this year before I complete my graduate diploma, I've already decided that having finished it, I will go on and do my masters. Then I can be Monica Cole, MCIPS, MSc. Surely all those letters will make me feel good!
Right now, the only thing that could possibly make me feel better is chocolate so I'm off to eat lots of it!
Monday, February 12, 2007
700 words!
I wrote 700 new words tonight! I know it's not a lot but it's a start and I'm happy with every single one of them because they form the foundation for my new chapter eight, which I need to write because I deleted the original chapter eight when I edited.
With a little luck I'll have this chapter finished by the end of the week. Then I'm going to print a copy of the entire ms and do another polish before I start hunting for an agent.
I forgot to mention something really cool earlier - Waterstones have a buy one get one free on Little Black Dress books this week!
With a little luck I'll have this chapter finished by the end of the week. Then I'm going to print a copy of the entire ms and do another polish before I start hunting for an agent.
I forgot to mention something really cool earlier - Waterstones have a buy one get one free on Little Black Dress books this week!
catching up
I'm bored with being sick. I think I might be well again. I didn't have any painkillers today, which is the first time for about two weeks. Or did I? I might have taken some first thing but none since. Fingers crossed I'm well again.
I did manage to get all the Spanish CDs last week. Have listened to the first two but probably didn't take much in because on both occassions I found myself drifting off into a conversation my current characters are having! Still, I'm not seriously learning Spanish right now. I just wanted to get those CDs since learning Spanish is on my list of things to do.
I spent most of the last week sleeping. When I wasn't sleeping I was either working or playing computer games! I got through all five rounds of the first CSI disk. Then at the weekend dh and I played a really cool game called The Ship. Unlike CSI, which is just me and the computer, The Ship is an online game so you're playing against other people.
The dh had talked about The Ship before but didn't think I was really into computer games. But after I got the CSI games he said the next time The Ship had a free weekend we could play and if I liked it, I could buy it. Of course, he wasn't expecting the free weekend to be the following weekend!
Because it was free to play, we played for hours and hour on Saturday and Sunday. I was rubbish at it but I loved it so I bought the game last night.
However, I'm not playing it tonight because I'm writing. Jane and Adam are demanding that I write a new chapter to replace the one I deleted and I'm happy to do so because they have worked out exactly what they want to say to each other.
I also started reading a LBD book today called She'll Take It. I can't remember the author's name right now, which is terrible of me but I'll report back on that later. All I'll say for now is that I'm loving it!
And I'm also thrilled to report that M&B author Kelly Hunter has been on my blog! Kelly, I loved Wife for a Week! It was the best M&B I've read in a long time. I still pick it up every now and then to have a flick through a page or two, and before I sent my last partial to Richmond in September I reread the entire book to remind myself of what I was aspiring too! So, of course I was going to love Priceless! I'm glad you didn't put it in the too risky bin because it was great. I love your voice. Can't wait for your next book.
Phew! I think I've covered everything.
I did manage to get all the Spanish CDs last week. Have listened to the first two but probably didn't take much in because on both occassions I found myself drifting off into a conversation my current characters are having! Still, I'm not seriously learning Spanish right now. I just wanted to get those CDs since learning Spanish is on my list of things to do.
I spent most of the last week sleeping. When I wasn't sleeping I was either working or playing computer games! I got through all five rounds of the first CSI disk. Then at the weekend dh and I played a really cool game called The Ship. Unlike CSI, which is just me and the computer, The Ship is an online game so you're playing against other people.
The dh had talked about The Ship before but didn't think I was really into computer games. But after I got the CSI games he said the next time The Ship had a free weekend we could play and if I liked it, I could buy it. Of course, he wasn't expecting the free weekend to be the following weekend!
Because it was free to play, we played for hours and hour on Saturday and Sunday. I was rubbish at it but I loved it so I bought the game last night.
However, I'm not playing it tonight because I'm writing. Jane and Adam are demanding that I write a new chapter to replace the one I deleted and I'm happy to do so because they have worked out exactly what they want to say to each other.
I also started reading a LBD book today called She'll Take It. I can't remember the author's name right now, which is terrible of me but I'll report back on that later. All I'll say for now is that I'm loving it!
And I'm also thrilled to report that M&B author Kelly Hunter has been on my blog! Kelly, I loved Wife for a Week! It was the best M&B I've read in a long time. I still pick it up every now and then to have a flick through a page or two, and before I sent my last partial to Richmond in September I reread the entire book to remind myself of what I was aspiring too! So, of course I was going to love Priceless! I'm glad you didn't put it in the too risky bin because it was great. I love your voice. Can't wait for your next book.
Phew! I think I've covered everything.
Monday, February 05, 2007
i'm learning spanish
I should be studying but instead I'm playing CSI and learning how to speak Spanish! At least, I would be if The Sun had delivered today's free CD to the WH Smith on Fleet St.
I admit to being a Sun reader - but only on Saturday's when I buy it for the TV Mag. Having been a journalist on a daily paper in a previous life (ie New Zealand) I used to buy The Sun when I first moved to the UK because I couldn't believe a newspaper would publish such stories!!!!
Then I got over the humour and only started buying it on Saturdays - for the TV Mag. We like Spain. I've been there twice. The dh has been there numerous times. Plus they speak Spanish in Cuba, which we visited last year. We intend to go back to Spain, many times. So after Cuba I decided I was going to learn to speak Spanish...after completing my graduate diploma at the end of this year.
Then in The Sun on Saturday they give away a Spanish language CD along with the promise of more each day for the coming week. All you have to do is take your voucher into WH Smith each day to exchange it.
I figure, what the heck. Let's learn a little Spanish now. Get a head start. I bought The Sun on my way to work today, filled in the voucher and headed to WH Smith on Fleet St at lunchtime only to find no CDs had been delivered. WH Smith said to complain to The Sun. Which I did.
The response? Collect all the vouchers this week and send them to the address listed to get the CDs. The cost? £4.50. But I don't want to pay £4.50, I replied. Not when I should be able to get my CDs for free from WH Smith. The response? NOTHING.
I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow they'll deliver Monday and Tuesday's CDs. On the up side, I did get to listen to part of Saturday's CD as I made my way home from work tonight.
By May I should be able to speak some Spanish. Not sure how that will help with my exams though! I'll worry about that another day. Right now I'm off to help Sara Siddle from CSI with a tough arson case that kept me up until midnight last night!
I admit to being a Sun reader - but only on Saturday's when I buy it for the TV Mag. Having been a journalist on a daily paper in a previous life (ie New Zealand) I used to buy The Sun when I first moved to the UK because I couldn't believe a newspaper would publish such stories!!!!
Then I got over the humour and only started buying it on Saturdays - for the TV Mag. We like Spain. I've been there twice. The dh has been there numerous times. Plus they speak Spanish in Cuba, which we visited last year. We intend to go back to Spain, many times. So after Cuba I decided I was going to learn to speak Spanish...after completing my graduate diploma at the end of this year.
Then in The Sun on Saturday they give away a Spanish language CD along with the promise of more each day for the coming week. All you have to do is take your voucher into WH Smith each day to exchange it.
I figure, what the heck. Let's learn a little Spanish now. Get a head start. I bought The Sun on my way to work today, filled in the voucher and headed to WH Smith on Fleet St at lunchtime only to find no CDs had been delivered. WH Smith said to complain to The Sun. Which I did.
The response? Collect all the vouchers this week and send them to the address listed to get the CDs. The cost? £4.50. But I don't want to pay £4.50, I replied. Not when I should be able to get my CDs for free from WH Smith. The response? NOTHING.
I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow they'll deliver Monday and Tuesday's CDs. On the up side, I did get to listen to part of Saturday's CD as I made my way home from work tonight.
By May I should be able to speak some Spanish. Not sure how that will help with my exams though! I'll worry about that another day. Right now I'm off to help Sara Siddle from CSI with a tough arson case that kept me up until midnight last night!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
it's my birthday!
It's my birthday so I don't have to study today! Yay! I did actually go to the library for a couple of hours yesterday morning for an intensive session so I don't feel bad at all about slacking off today. We've been to Tesco and got a finest Indian meal for two for dinner tonight - my choice since it's my birthday! And the dh got me some computer games which he has just installed on my laptop so I'm off to play CSI!!!
Saturday, February 03, 2007
jessica hart's new website
Jessica Hart has a new website - http://www.jessicahart.co.uk/ - go check it out!
Friday, February 02, 2007
i passed!
Exam results posted online today. Passed both. Hopefully now I'll be able to settle into study for May exams, which I need to enroll for on Monday. Have spent most of the day in bed so far. Planning to watch a couple of Harry Potter movies this afternoon. Will eat more ice cream for dinner and then go to bed.
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