A Good Start To 2012

Happy New Year, everyone! 

The new year means trying to join the Romantic Novelists Associations New Writers' Scheme. I decided to give it a go, especially after being at the conference last year and meeting so many wonderful Romantic Writers.

The rules stated you could not send your email before 00:01 2nd January 2012. Which meant I was up until midnight last night, waiting for my PC's clock to click over to 00:01 to send my prepared email.

My friend Morton Gray was also doing the same, and we were messaging via Facebook, reassuring each other that we weren't nuts, and confirming we both felt a tiny bit nervous and sick about pushing the send button.

Morton heard early this morning that she was in. I therefore feared the worse, as I checked my inbox every five minutes there after and saw no email! At 13:11 today, finally I was put out of my misery. I'm in! I've got a place on the New Writers Scheme. Whoooo hoooooo! *does Joey from Friends happy dance*

This now means I need to knuckle down and get writing. Admittedly I do have The Wedding Favour finished, which I'm slowly editing - and now need to speed up on -  but I would like to send Perfect Isn't An Option to the manuscript appraisal system. This so far stands at 33,000 words (as my little box to the right indicates). I've just ordered Rob Lowe's autobiography which comes out in paperback 19 January - this is research for Steve, my hero. I think January will be tidy up and finish The Wedding Favour, and February start concentrating on my second novel. If I do 1000 words a day again, I'll get it finished by end of March latest. I've got till the end of August, so I won't start panicking yet.

This has also made a decision for me. I need to concentrate on the novels. I will try to get a short story written and entered into competitions etc. occasionally. But I really need to make sure that I'm on track with both of my novels before other things get in the way. (I will send my short story off to the Choc Lit competition though, as that's almost ready!)

Anyway, it's been a big plus today for me. I'm going to take this acceptance into the RNA NWS as a good sign for 2012!

A Look Back At The Books

I am sneakily pinching this idea of Becky Black. (She posted this on her Livejournal actually). But it's such a good idea to look back at all the books I've read.

I try to read 40 books a year, and this target does help to motivate me to keep reading, otherwise I would quite easily keep writing sometimes. The only thing I am finding is I'm still not making time to read magazines, and I really must! Especially Writing Magazine, because I subscribe to it and another comes through the door before I've finished the month before.


Here they are, in alphabetical order, not in order read.

Book Review: The Secret Of Helena's Bay by Sally Quilford

The Secret of Helena's Bay by Sally Quilford

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I enjoyed this pocket novel. A little bit of suspense, danger and mystery, with romance wrapped around it, and a touch of humour thrown in.



Great size story for a quick read on the Kindle too.



View all my reviews

I've included it in my book total, too. So 41 read this year! I don't think I'll get another book in before the New Year, it's very busy here in the Morgan household. Not getting much writing done either, which stresses me slightly, because I worry that I should be writing. How else am I going to make it?

Advent Calendar: Day 24

It's here! Christmas Eve is finally upon us. Today the kids go crazy, and won't sleep and will wake up the crack of dawn the next day!

I want to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year! Thank you for reading, following and even commenting at times. Hope 2012 brings us all good things, especially in the published writing department!

So here's some candy... 

24th December

Oh, sorry, you want proper eye candy... Let's remind ourselves...

Oh and can you guess the odd one out?

Advent Calendar: Day 23

Gosh, only two more sleeps. I can't believe another year has spun around so quickly, and Christmas day is rapidly approaching.

Yesterday, I baked over forty biscuits, and glittered them in edible glitter. And I made 36 mince pies. The proof is on Tumblr. Yes, I was rather knackered by the end of it, but the boys were really good and didn't bother me. (Naughty Mummy let them play Wii all morning).

So who I am going to put behind this door?

I think another Christmas song, to get us in the spirit. I wanted to post Band Aid Do They Know It's Christmas but however much I love that song, and think it's a very powerful message, I don't want to depress you all. So instead, I'll post something cheery behind door number 23.

23rd December

Sorry, you have to skip the ads! That brings back some memories...

And okay, if that didn't work for you, here's a picture of David Tennant.