happy new year!

I'm a few days late but....Happy New Year!!! I've been busy enjoying the last few hazy days of the festive season. I don't mean I've been on holiday, I worked right through, but I've been taking it kinda easy! Tomorrow, normal service resumes at work!

So, here we are in 2008! I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve. We went to see the fireworks at the London Eye! Some of them. We left home a little late and there were a few more people there than we expected, plus we took my route through the crowded streets instead of the dh's route and ended up getting stuck half way to where we wanted to be and on the wrong side of the river! Still, we were together with hundreds of thousands of others, in the pouring rain, drinking alcohol and smiling like lunatics!

The fireworks were pretty damned fabulous. I have the evidence on my phone. My new phone that my darling dh got me for Christmas! Of course, I have no idea how to operate it so he took the video and then sent it to friends because I also don't know how to do that!

So, New Year's Resolutions.....this year I went for things I know I'm going to do!

1) take my dh to a Thai restaurant for his birthday (we've talked about this for at least two years but never done it!)
2) go to the air show at RAF Fairford (can't wait!)
3) go to Regent's Park (something we've never done in five years living in central London!)

And now for the pie in the sky resolution:
4) buy an e book reader (I'm fascinated by these and would love to own love. Just think how much more reading I'd get in if I could read on the go!)

And now for the resolutions that I'm not going to share:
5) XXX XXX X XXXXXXXXX
6) XXXX XXX XXXXX

Hahahaha!

OK, so three weeks now until I get the results of my November exams. Nervous, moi? Absolutely! More nervous than ever before considering these were (hopefully) my last exams. I'm trying to fill my days with so many activities that I don't have time to think about impending exam results and I've booked the days the results might come off work so I'm not forced to look online for the results and share them with everyone before I am ready!

I hope you all have a fabulous 2008, and if it hasn't started out so well, I hope it gets better.

goodbye 2007

There are less than 26 hours left of 2007. Now, 2007 hasn't been a particularly bad year (some ups, some downs) but I will be glad to see it end, mainly because a new year brings a sense of new beginnings.

The highlight of 2007 for me was seeing DJ Tiesto in Ibiza in August. And just so I didn't waste the last few days of the year, I posted a couple of submissions off to agents on Friday!

Shall head off to bed in a few hours (sleeping patterns are w-a-y out of kilter at the moment) and then be up for work a few hours after that, head into work for a morning of madness then head home again for a few hours before heading back into the city to get a spot to watch the fireworks on the Thames at midnight.

I love living in London! And, it's currently forecast to SNOW on Wednesday!!!!!

Here's to 2008 - may it be full of everything you want. I know I already have a few things planned for 2008. I'm going to put them on here in a day or two as someone I met once told me that once you share your plans with others, you work harder to make them happen.

I want 2008 to be full of good things for everyone I know! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

merry christmas!

I'm spending a much deserved evening lying on the sofa doing nothing. In fact, I'm seriously considering going to bed. Life has been very busy with Christmas things (nights out, lunches, buying presents, arranging more nights out) which coupled with the fact that it's extremely cold mean all I want to do is curl up on the sofa with a duvet and pillow!

Everything I've wanted to buy seems to be unavailable. I searched many a Marks & Spencer for a particular Mrs Beeton's book before giving up and today I've been treking round London Tesco stores trying to find one that had Mousetrap in stock. They have a 3 for 2 special on games (and an extra 25% off!) so I wanted to get Mousetrap, Operation and Buckaroo. All the shops I went too either had none or Operation and Buckaroo but not Mousetrap. Of course, I could buy it from Argo but for almost the same cost as the three games from Tesco! It's essential that I get Mousetrap so I might have to reassess tomorrow.

Officialy, I'm working right up to Christmas and the few days between Christmas and New Year. Unoffically, I'm hoping for late starts, early finishes, casual clothes and plenty of time to catch up on some reading while I'm in the office.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

rejection letter

The title says it all really. The US agent rejected my ms yesterday. I got a handwritten note explaining why and all that and that's really I have to say about it right now.

story ideas

Hey, it's December! Christmas is coming! And I have another story idea demanding to be written! It came to me last night - just the opening scene and the final sentence, which leads onto another book! Oh boy! Practically no writing all year due to study pressures and then as soon as the final exams are over, three ideas pile in!

I'd love to be writing them but at the moment I'm struggling with just getting through the day and doing the necessary Christmas stuff that needs to be done each night so that Christmas Eve doesn't send me into a panic.

The other thing that's keeping me busy is visiting author sites to enter contests to win free books! Jessica Hart (www.jessicahart.co.uk) is giving away an advance copy of her first 2008 book, Liz Fielding (www.lizfielding.com) is giving a book away every day on her blog and Kate Walker (www.kate-walker.com) is too!

OK, back to the Christmas cards...

writing again!

For a last few months, I've promised myself that, post exams, I would start writing again by Christmas.

Well, I've done it! An idea I've been playing with over the last 12 months or so suddenly started to fall into place in my head as I drifted off to sleep last night (how inconvenient!) and I've just finished putting it all into a word document. I was rather pleased to see I've got nearly 11,000 words already! They aren't entirely new words because a lot of what came to me was how some stuff I'd already written thinking they were different stories were all actually part of this one story that I need to write. I'd always intended to call it No Maternal Bones but the working title is actually The Baby Connection.

I've got a list of characters, I know what motivates the heroine and I know the point of the story but there's still a lot of blanks to fill in.

Some what annoyingly, another story idea is also grabbing me right now! I know much less about this story and only have 137 words written but it was something that I was fired up to write earlier this year but didn't because I realised I needed to focus on my studies.

So, now my exams are over and I have two stories demanding to be written! I'm hoping that is a sign that 2008 is going to be a fantastic writing year!

Sadly, I have to put the writing to one side for the rest of the day because I have other things I need to achieve before I go to bed: like making sure I've got work clothes sorted because I'm going back to work tomorrow after a two week break, like keeping an eye on the roast slowly cooking in the oven, like catching up with some reading. But, boy does it feel good to be writing again!

they think it's all over. it is now!

Exams are over!!! I sat the last one yesterday. After two and a half years of studying constantly, I got up this morning and said "I've got nothing to do". What did I used to do with all my free time before I started studying for this qualification? Oh, that's right, I used to write!

Right now, I'm exhausted but give me another day of lounging around and I'll be back on top of things. Just as well as I'm due back at work on Monday.

Of course, I don't get my final results until February so technically I'm not fully qualified until then, and there's always a chance that I didn't do as well as I hope I did, but I'm not going to think about that. As far as I am concerned, I'm done. I'm qualified.

So, now it's onto the next thing. When I say I'm finished studying, that's not quite true. I am doing an Open University course but it doesn't involve exams and so far is proving enjoyable. It's more for my own benefit than work. I got my first assignment back on Thursday: 94% - so you can see why I might be feeling happy at the moment, what with exams being out of the way and all!

Now that I'm qualified, I need to decide what I want next out of my career. I have two choices. I can go on and do a Masters or I can go down the management course route. I have given myself next year to decide as I want to see how a few things pan out.

In the meantime, I have dozens of unread books to read that I've bought over the last two and a half years but haven't found the time to read, more books that I want to buy, and a new book to get writing!

I also have another roast to cook and yet another chocolate pudding to eat (all in the name of trying to find a chocolate pudding like the ones I remember from when I was little!).

And did I mention that it is freezing out? All I really want to do is curl up in bed!

podcasting

I don't post for nearly a month and then, just like London buses, two come along at once! I'm excited! The roast is nearly done (just minutes away) and I did mean to use the cooking time to do my nearly final run through of my case study notes (tomorrow is the final run through) but instead I have spent it downloading podcasting software Juice and then searching the internet for podcasts! So far I have the Harlequin Author Spotlights, Chequered Flag Formula 1, Tiesto's club life, and Downing Street! I appreciate that some people's eyes may be glazing over and that some many have no idea what I am talking about but believe me, I am excited! I think I've turned into a tech geek! How did I miss podcasting? OK, I didn't miss it. My dh has been listening to podcasts for what seems like forever, but it just never grabbed me until today. No idea why. Oh, I know, study diversion! So, when exams are over, I have dozens of books to read and podcasts to listen to. Oh, and I'm going to start work on my next manuscript before Christmas plus I have another writing related project on the go that's super exciting!

Nine minutes until the roast is ready.

Did I mention that I have chocolate sponge pudding? The dh likes Christmas puddings, which I hate. Somehow we have at least eight Christmas puddings in the kitchen. So, being the grown up that I am, for each Christmas pudding in the trolley, I added a chocolate sponge just for me. So far, I have yet to find a chocolate pudding that tastes anything like the self saucing chocolate puddings I remember from my childhood. It's tough, but I'll keep trying.

Seven minutes...

yikes!

I didn't realise I hadn't blogged in nearly a month! My only excuse is that I've had my head down, studying. Yeah, exams are looming. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoon. But the good news is that these are the last set of exams (touch wood) so once they are over, they are over. And boy do I plan to celebrate at the weekend!

So, I've been studying. Test me. I know all about advanced project management (gnatt charts, business cases, project life cycles, six sigma, Prince2, networks, work breakdown stuctures), legal aspects (contract law, vitiating factors, alternative dispute resolution, the Sale of Goods Act, the Supply of Goods and Services Act, EU procurement directives, confidentiality, Freedom of Information Act) and I've done the analysis for the case study exam (PESTLE, SWOT, Porter, stakeholders) and, well, OK, I don't know it all but hopefully I know enough to pass! I won't feel bad if I don't pass because I know I have put in the work.

I've also been doing lots of other stuff like waiting. The US agent has had my ms for three weeks now and I've also had a partial at M&B in Richmond since the end of June.

I'll worry about them next week.

Today, I have cleaned like a mad woman. It's something I do when I'm meant to be studying! The only thing that surprised me about today's cleaning is that I've been home for 10 days and this is the first day I've used cleaning as a study diversion! So, the place is clean, there's a roast in the oven and I've only got a little bit of study scheduled to complete today because I figure it's a good idea to take it easy today and tomorrow.

The other thing I've been doing today is obssessively checking the internet for updates on the release of Amazon's Kindle, an e-booker reader which I desperately want! Sadly, it's only available in the US, as is the Sony PRS-505. No idea when the Kindle is being released in the UK yet but there are rumours the Sony one is being launched at the London Book Fair next year. I don't know if the general public can attend the book fair but if they can and the Sony PRS-505 is being launched there, I do everything in my power to ensure I am there.

Right now, I'm telling myself that I will buy either a Sony PRS-505 or Kindle next year as my present to myself for passing these exams and therefore being fully qualified. Results are due in early February. But I'm also toying with the idea of buying something else.

I have sooooo many books to read once my exams are over! I can't wait!

hello, hello, hello!

Bet you all thought I forgot I had a blog! I promise I didn't. I've thought about posting on many occasions but just never actually sat down and did it.

Life has been full of ups and downs as usual - although I hasten to add that I'm making sure there are lots more ups in my life to help me get through the downs! I have a lot to be grateful for and I remind myself of this whenever I start to get down. Mostly, the downs are things I can't control and while I know I shouldn't stress about them, sometimes I just can't help myself. Chocolate helps! Lots of it! And doing "up" things.

Right now, I'm up to my neck in study. I have three exams in three and a half weeks. These are the final three exams of my graduate diploma. Fourteen exams in two and a half years, while working full time, and trying to write....hmmmm, I think I'm mad!

And the study doesn't end there! I've recently started an Open University course and the second one starts in February. I'm really enjoying my M150 (data, computing and information) course and the good thing is that it's assessed via assignment so NO MORE EXAMS!

I've also been on a life planning and career success course recently which means I have a plan (which I'm looking at right now!) of where I'd like to be in three months, six months, 12 months and three years from now. No surprises for guessing that having a book published is in there somewhere!! Along with things like learning Spanish.

I've also been to see Col Tim Collins give a talk. He gave the famous speech to his men on the eve of the Iraq war. I'm sure I remember several romance authors talking about how dashing Col Collins was at the time! In person, well, let's just say I was awestruck! His speech was just amazing. I came home and ordered a copy of his book.

Oh, and I'm thinking about writing! This weekend I've penciled in time to do a final run through of my ms before sending it off to the agent who requested it. Yes, I know that was ages ago and I promise you I haven't been pissing around. The agent specified it was not to turn up at her office until after October 29th so I'm posting it on October 29th.

And, looking back through my blog a few minutes ago, I realised my partial has been at M&B for four months now. Not that I'm going to stress about it. Exams are the only thing I have time for stressing about right now!

But I did promise the fantastically inspiring woman who presented the life planning and career success course that I would start writing something brand spanking new before Christmas, and that I'd email her to let her know I had done this.

One final word (or words): fingers crossed and best of luck to my fabulous CP who is sending her requested full into M&B. Go Sue!!!!!

agent update

The agent liked what I did with the revisions on the partial and has now asked to see the complete ms! Yay! I was a little shocked to see the envelope waiting for me when I got home last night because I only posted the revised partial to the US last Monday and wasn't expecting to hear back until the end of October. I'll be printing out a copy later today so I can start going through it to double check one more time!

updates

- Ms revised and posted to US agent on Monday.
- August exam result received today - I passed - 60% - yay!

busy!

I'm bogged down in study and finishing my revisions for the US agent. My to do list is looking so scary that I'm almost at the point where I don't want to add anything else to it! But, on the plus side, I am almost over the cold I caught when we were on holiday and I LOVE being busy! I'm one of those sad people who work best when they're busy! And I have set aside special time for reading when I reach certain milestones on my to do list. For example, yesterday I ordered the new James Patterson book Double Cross which is out on Thursday. I should receive it Friday and I'll be desperate to read it asap so I've decided I can read it as soon as I've sent my revised ms off to the US.

the best holiday ever was followed by...

...the crapiest day at work ever. But that was yesterday and I've moved on. Almost. OK, so I might still be a tiny bit annoyed.

But, moving on.

While we were away, I told my darling husband that I felt I needed to become more high maintenance. Where did this come from? I don't know. I've never been what I would call a girlie girl. I can be ready to go out in a matter of minutes. It's not that I don't care about my appearance. I do, but I've never been into all that girlie taking hours to get ready business and stressing about how I look. OK, maybe I do stress about how I look a bit but I am definitely not high maintenance!

Naturally, my darling husband was concerned by my statement and told me I was not to become high maintenance!

He can relax. I couldn't do high maintenance if I wanted to. I'd bore myself!

But this week I have managed to visit Boots to purchase a new (and expensive) skin care regime only to instead come away with enough free samplers to last a week at which time I have an appointment to see the skin care specialist to review my options. Now, that is high maintenance for me! And, as a side note, my skin is already feeling and looking better after just two "three minutes a day" sessions!

And today I went shopping and came home wearing a matching bracelet and necklace, which my darling husband looked at and said "is that your attempt at being high maintenance?". Then, having found out how much these items cost (£4 and £8 - ok, so not much but I liked them!) he practically fell on the floor laughing at me.

High maintenance I am not. I don't know why I would want to be. Maybe I was flirting with a mid life crisis. Or maybe I just needed to spend some money on myself to cheer myself up because some crappy things have left me feeling a little down.

Usually I would simply buy a book or some chocolate. OK, you got me there! I have bought a lot of chocolate in the last two days as well!

Whatever the reason, I am feeling happy right. Tired, and still suffering from the cold from hell, but happy.

the best holiday ever!

I'm home again and I've had the BEST HOLIDAY EVER!!!! Aside from the fact that we both came home with stinking colds, that is. Apart from one trip to the supermarket to buy fresh fruit and veg, we've spent the last two days lying on the sofa watching videos or in bed sleeping, all the while coughing and blowing our noses! Nice!

But I don't care because I had the BEST HOLIDAY EVER!!!!!!

It truly was.

I am yet to feel sad that it is over. That will probably hit me on Tuesday morning when I head off to work, when reality takes over and I realise that I am suddenly back to being rushed off my feet at work every single second that I'm there, that I need to start studying again and that I need to finish my revisions.

But for now I'm sitting here listening to Dance Anthems on Radio 1 and a top tune from the best dj in the world, who I just happened to see on my holiday!!!! Thanks to my darling husband for booking the tickets!! Love ya!!

things to be happy about

1) I'm going on holiday to sunny Spain on Friday!

2) I bought Swan Adamson's latest Little Black Dress, Memoirs are Made of This, today to take on holiday with me. It features the delightful Venus Gilroy from My Three Husbands. That and She'll Take it (by Mary Carter) are two of my favourite Little Black Dress books so far. Believe me, I have a lot of them! They're all brilliant!

3) I've eaten an obscene amount of chocolate today. Ok, so maybe I shouldn't be happy about that, I mean, I'm not exactly a perfect size, I'm somewhere between a UK 10 and 12 with jiggly thighs and bottom and a less than flat stomach but I don't care about dieting today, or pretty much any other day.

4) I have a tan! So what if it came out of a bottle and it's all streaky. I have a tan! I never tan. Never. Ever. Hence why this year I bought FAKE TAN. Tonight's application should fix the streaky bits. Maybe. I don't really care right now.

5) An agent who asked to see more of my ms when I sent her a query letter has just been in touch to ask for revisions! Thankfully, I understand exactly what she meant in her letter and know exactly what I'm going to do to fix it.

6) I have a fantastic husband who I love dearly!

interrupted revision

I'm at home today revising for Friday's exam. At least, I should be revising. Normally, I go to the library. But then in the past I didn't have my own desk here at home. So, today I decided to stay at home and study. Big mistake. Firstly, it's sunny so I keep looking out the window and thinking about going outside to sit in the sun. Secondly, the husband works from home. He's been chatting away and has now just put the radio on, plus he arranged for the Tesco shopping to be delivered this afternoon because I'd be home to put all the shopping away. And finally, I keep distracting myself by going on Facebook, checking my email, reading the news. After the shopping has been delivered, I am going to either the library or the park so I can get on with some study and tomorrow I am getting up and going to the library.

i passed!

May exam results turned up today (a whole day earlier than expected, sneaky people!) and I passed! That's right, I passed all three exams! One straight pass and two credits - some of my best exam results actually. I'm amazed, simply amazed. I was convinced I'd failed at least one, if not two. I felt sick this morning when a colleague who sat two of the three exams I did announced to the team that our exam results were out and she'd passed. Then the next person checked and announced he too had passed. I refused to check mine for ages, absolutely convinced I'd failed and everyone would feel sorry for me. But I passed and we duly went for a walk to buy celebratory donnuts! This is just the boost I need two days before my next exam!

i'm still here..

I'm just very busy and thought it was about time I gave everyone a break from my moaning! Since I last blogged I've been on holiday to Bournemouth again (another fish and chip fest!), stressed terribly about the situation that I shouldn't stress about because I have no control over it, received a rejection letter from an agent (well, actually, what she did was scribble a few lines on the bottom of my letter and send it back to me!) and have been ill for the last two days. But, hey, the good times have outweighed the bad so I'm not complaining this time round!

I'm studying hard as I have an exam in just under two weeks and have also just given in and joined Facebook and Shelfari. After the exam (which, if anyone is interested is exam 11 of 14 so I am nearly there!) I'm off to Cambridgeshire for the weekend and have yet another trip planned to Bournemouth in mid-August, after which I shall have to start work on the courses for the November exams.

One of these days I might even fit some reading in! I swear I took a book to Bournemouth with me (the same book I took the last time we were there) but didn't find time to read it. Maybe when we go to Spain...

reference number

I got my reference number in the post from M&B today. What? I forgot to mention that I posted a partial to Richmond on Monday? When my last submission to M&B got rejected back in February, the letter came with a comps slip to send something else in to the same editor. At the time I didn't think I had anything more to send so it got filed away until last week when I decided I did have something to send in. I dusted that comps slip off, printed my partial, wrote a letter, packaged it all up, posted it off and then immediately began to worry about all the flaws in the ms that I hadn't thought of until after I posted it! Oh well. If the editor sees something in my ms, she'll give me a chance to fix those flaws. If not, it wasn't meant to be. For now, that's another ms forgotten about as I have an exam in a little under a month which I need to focus on but I'm sure I'll be frantically worrying that a letter got lost in about 20 weeks!