Presenting...

My completed paper edit transfer to Scrivener thingy! FYI, I tend to use the words 'thingy' and 'thingies' a lot. In my universe, they are words. Anyway, the edits are done and I'm ready to send the novel off to my beta-reader. Wheee, I have a beta-reader! I also have one more goal to cross off my list! Now I can turn my attention to NaNoWriMo and the two novels I'll be writing during November! There was a discussion on the NaNo forums about last-minute projects people are trying to get done before November 1st. This was mine. I do have a Chrysalis story to finish, which technically was due yesterday...or maybe even on Friday. I can't remember if it was my turn to post the Friday feature or not. Either way, I'll get that one done tonight, and then tomorrow NaNo begins!

What about you? Do you have any last-minute projects to finish before November? What about end-of-year tasks?

Still alive!

Yes, I totally failed NaBloWriMo. And I'm fine with that. I had a rather disappointing weekend, but I'm not going to get into details. Suffice it to say I feel better now, but this is the kind of disappointment that will take a fair while to recover from. I'm a bit annoyed at the timing, what with NaNo coming up and everything! But oh well, NOTHING will keep me from my NaNoWriMo.

I still haven't finished my paper edit transfer stuff. I really should have finished it a few days ago. The personal matter that took over my life kind of got in the way of that. But I'm determined to finish the edits today. I've only got about 9 pages to go, so it shouldn't take me long. But as I mentioned a while back, I have had to do a bit of rewriting so it's taken more effort than it otherwise would have.

Last night I stayed over at a friend's for a girls' night and we watched LEGALLY BLONDE. This morning, though, we watched DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN, a film straight outta my youth. I was 5 when it came out. Maybe 4. Depends on when in 1985 it was released. Madonna was just so damn cool in this movie! What a trendsetter. She still is that, I guess, but I admit I'm not a huge fan of her more recent work. Old school Madonna is where it's at.

This post doesn't have one central theme, as you can see. And that's another thing I'm perfectly at ease with. I hope everyone has had a great weekend!

Ways to help your author friends

Nope, this is not my post...but I want to mention Jolene Perry's post on this very topic. Because it made me realise I needed to tell some people that I haven't forgotten their books!

I have a bunch of books from blogger writer friends that I have yet to read (including Ciara Knight, and my friend Carmen Rane Hudson). I just want all of you to know that I will be reading them! I will be leaving reviews on GoodReads (and anywhere else you want me to leave them!) once I'm done. It's really hard for me to prioritise my reading, because I have so much of it to do. My TBRRN shelf (to-be-read-right-now) is rather packed. Then I have an entire other bookcase full of TBR books. None of that includes the eBooks I've got stashed, ready to have at.

But I will get there! So just remember you are not forgotten!

Craaaaaaazy

I would blame my recent lobotomy for the fact that I locked myself out of my home...again. But the last time I locked myself out, I hadn't had the lobotomy yet. So I guess there's really no good excuse for this one!! But instead of focusing on how annoyed I am right now (because my keys are still in my house...I may need to borrow a ladder), I'm going to concentrate on some good stuff.

For instance, I have (I think) two more chapters to go before I'm done with the revision thingy. Then I will send my manuscript thingy off to my beta-reader Laura! Wheeee! Then it will be time for NaNoWriMo. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!

"My Weakness" by Moby

At present, I'm up to page 165 of my paper edit transfer. At this stage I feel like I am probably not doing the best I could do with implementing the edits. I mean, I should probably read over the whole thing instead of just focusing on the parts I had noted during the paper edit. But I feel good about the rearrangements I've been doing along the way, and how many words I've cut out. The wordcount is currently under 95k, which means I have already met my wordcount goal. However, there's potential for adding some words in these last few chapters, so I'll see how it all turns out I guess.

My face is swollen today. My aunty was telling me that when she had a similar procedure done on her face (but on her nose, not forehead), it took a couple of days after the surgery for the swelling to really start. I was confused when my face began to puff up, because I thought I had got away with hardly any swelling! Now I know I was wrong about that. But I'm not in any pain, so that part is fine.

Right now I am listening to "My Weakness" by Moby. Now when I hear this song, I think of that X-FILES episode. But I loved the song even before hearing it on that show. It's a gorgeous song, and if you haven't heard it, you should!

What I'm reading

This is what I'm reading at the moment, thanks to a colleague who lent it to me at least a year ago (probably more like two...). I've put it off time and time again, but finally I'm getting stuck in. Because, as that colleague of mine told me, "You've got to read at least one Jackie Collins novel in your life."

This, my friends, is the one.

What are you reading?

NaBloWriMo day...23

I could share more graphic pictures of my battle scar, but I wouldn't want to scare anyone! Oh, and for the record, that isn't a scar - it's a wound which will scar, at least a little. But I'm not worried about a white Harry Potter scar on my forehead. Or Zorro, as the man put it. I just want the sutures out so I can start healing properly!

Meanwhile, my wordcount during revisions is really shrinking. Right now I'm at 95,736. If you recall, my goal wordcount was 95k!! So I'm nearly there. I can well imagine going under it, which means I may have some breathing space for improving on descriptions in various places. I'm up to page 134 out of 188, so I'm making good progress. But enough about that.

I want to mention an experience I had a few days back, after locking myself out of a particularly important building (the one I live in). I had to call on my secret ninja powers of breaking and entering (luckily I didn't have to break anything in order to enter)... I even had to walk myself backwards up a wall while hanging off a window sill! Work colleagues suggested I might look into a job with ASIO, or one as a stunt double in action movies. Nah, I think I'll just stick with superhero librarianship and writing on the side, thanks. Still, it was fun to think about for a moment.

Zombie Trisha

Can you see it? I know, it's tiny! But I was searching Google for an appropriate zombie picture and I couldn't find any.

Now I guess you're wondering why I needed a zombie pic. Basically I was looking for something that would do my current appearance justice. I finally had my skin cancer removed and now I have a rather misshapen forehead. It really looked like I had little aliens growing in there. Not that the lumps were moving - no, they were perfectly dormant - but still, the description fit.

I'm not in much pain, just a little discomfort, and my lovely man stocked me up with white whine and chocolate (and leftover Thai food...mmmmm!), so I am all set. My mum is coming over at some point to wash the blood out of my hair. And then on Monday it's back to work, unless I decide I'm too ugly to be seen in public.

Meanwhile, today I am working on revisions. Currently I'm up to page 115 of 188. And I just realised I haven't paid any attention whatsoever to the Chrysalis prompt for this week. So I guess I better get a story written somewhere in the next few days.

What are you up to this weekend?

My NaNoWriMo past...and future

I thought I'd rehash my NaNo past, as well as briefly mention the future! A little research has shown me that I've done the following:

2002: ANJIE DAYS

2003: SOMANA

2007: SQUEAKY MCLEAN

2008: TURKEY BOURKE

2009: SUNDOWN

2010: NAUSICAA

In 2011, I'm writing two novels, so to the above list I will be adding:

2011: DANNA/VICTORIOUS

Because I am determined that I will win this year as well! Maybe I won't actually finish both novels. Maybe I'll finish one and not the other! Maybe both will be 'complete' (I'm doubtful of this). Either way, I will write 50k on each novel. At the very least, I will write 50k altogether. The major challenge will not be writing a total of 100k. Rather it will be attempting to finish both novels.

I've participated in NaNoWriMo during other years, but either unofficially, or unsuccessfully. So I'm not listing those here. One of the unsuccessful years was me attempting to continue with the previous year's story. I wrote a bit on it, but not 50k. One year I didn't participate at all, and another I participated unofficially.

So there you go. It's on record now, for all to see! But now it's your turn!

What's your NaNo history?

Twitter-tag the first

Long, long ago, I got Twitter-tagged by my blogger friend Charlotte Jane Ivory. And here is my reaction to that event:

1. If you could go back in time and relive one moment, what would it be?
   I've had heaps of great moments, but probably the one I'd love to relive is the first time I ever saw the Smashing Pumpkins live in concert. Or MAYBE it'd be the second time I saw them, which was a 3-hour performance in San Diego. MAGIC.
   
   
2. If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?
   I'd probably go back in time and try to orchestrate a distinct lack of Joseph Stalin in the world.
   
   
3. What movie/TV character do you most resemble in personality?
   Nobody, because I'm unique and nobody is like me? This is my lazy answer because I honestly can't think of any character off the top of my head. Or even off the bottom of it.
   
   
4. If you could push one person off a cliff and get away with it, who would it be?
   If I could push one person off a cliff, it'd probably be Juturna from my novel NAUSICAA. Maaaaan that lady's a nasty piece of work. But it's okay, she gets her come-uppance.
   
   
5. Name one habit you want to change in yourself.
   I want to be utterly confident in the idea that the world is my oyster, damn it. Basically I want to stop looking to other people for the kind of validation I am more than capable of giving myself.
   
   
6. Describe yourself in one word.
   Interesting.
   
   
7. Describe the person who named you in this meme in one word.
   Glamorous!
   
   
8. Why do you blog? Answer in one sentence.
   Because somebody said I should...so I gave it a shot, and thought it pretty well rocked!
   
   
9. Name at least 3 people to send this meme to, and then inform them.
   Ohhh, okay. I'll choose these people, after which I shall inform them:

• Laura @ Daily Dodo
• Madeline Bartos
• Jolene Perry

Meet Laura, my first EVARRR beta-reader!

Recently I mentioned that I found myself a beta-reader at last. That was actually one of my goals for 2011, so YAY! Anyway, my lovely beta's name is Laura and she has agreed to answer a few questions (read: be interrogated by the crazy librarian cat lady) so you (and I!) can get to know her better! Without further ado, I present...Laura!

1. What do you write, and what do you read? Do they tend to be the same?
I'll answer the second bit first. I read chick lit. Lots of chick lit. Probably far too much for one little person to handle - with the occasional snippet of sci-fi, thriller, and historical non-fiction. When it came to writing, I decided to write chick lit (naturally), and it also fits in well with the non-fiction fashion writing I do. I finished the first draft of my fist novel Welly-Booty-Goodness and shrugged. I was meant to be super-excited but it wasn't there, maybe because I've read so much of the stuff before. So now I'm considering embarking on a thriller for NaNoWriMo.

2. Do you love NaNoWriMo as much as I do? (for assistance with answering this one, I will inform you that I love NaNoWriMo THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS much)
I have a confession. I'm a NaNoWriMo virgin, *blushes*. I did BuNoWriMo in June run by Burrowers, Books and Balderdash. It's exactly the same premise but on a smaller scale, and I really enjoyed that. But I'm so excited about NaNoWriMo - I'm sooo going to a kick off event!

3. Do you have any beta readers of your own, and if so want to tell us about ‘em? If not, why not?
I don't have any dedicated Beta readers as yet, because I haven't really got anything to a stage where I want to get it checked out by anyone. A couple of fab, bloggy pals have been good enough to take a brief look over a chapter here and there for me though.

4. What kind of music do you write to? Or do you need complete silence? Or the steady beating of a bongo drum as background noise? Or something else entirely? (if the latter, what?)
So, for Welly-Booty-Goodness, I wrote the entire thing to the same playlist - Elvis, Beejees, Fink and Al Green. I'm thinking if I go the thriller route, I'm going to need some new suggestions!

5. What the HECK were you thinking, agreeing to be MY beta reader? Just kidding! The real question is...what's your favourite writing snack/drink combo?
Peanut M&Ms, a huge bowl of greasy, ready-salted crisps and a bucket of coffee.

Mmmmmm, peanut M&Ms...! No, really, that's where the interview ends. Pretty abrupt, huh? Well, I ran out of ideas for questions. So now I will just say THANKS to Laura for submitting to my interrogation, and for agreeing to be my first ever beta! Wheee!

Check out Laura's blog to enter her 200 Followers Giveaway!

Winter is my friend

That there is the kind of weather I love. We don't get it here, maybe that's why I love it so much. Pine for it, even. We don't get snow at all where I live. Apparently there is the occasional dusting of snow somewhere in my state - in the closest thing we have to mountains here - but for the most part, snow is practically a myth to people here.

Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a nice (cool) spring day. I can appreciate a nice gusty autumn day. I can even appreciate a hot summer's day, at least when I'm at the beach, in the water. But one of my favourite things is to travel overseas when it's winter there, and miss out on the grossness that is summer over here.

EPIC FAIL (link to a review)

D'arcy Wretzky, portrait by me.
It's day 17 of NaBloWriMo, and I'm not planning on saying anything other than...I'm up to page 89 (Chapter 18) in my paper edit --> Scrivener thingy.I finished reading EPIC FAIL, and put up a review on GoodReads.Now I'm reading FIVE FLAVOURS OF DUMB by Antony John.And now I'm going to click that orange Publish Post button.

Some scribbles for day...16 of NaBloWriMo

Chrysalis wordcount for the year to date: 93,917

Number of stories written: 41

That is all I'll say for now, as I will be doing a proper statistical analysis when the year is over.

Paper edit progress: up to page 84 (start of chapter 17) in the transfer!

Current Scrivener word count: 98,535 (goal is 95k)

And I'm completely serious when I say: that's all, folks!

Except I am a liar, because I must compulsively add a P.S. to mention that I'm currently reading EPIC FAIL by Claire LaZebnik, and enjoying the heck out of it!

Oh, and P.P.S. (didn't you love doing heaps of P.S.s as a teen? i.e. right up into the P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S.s? Or was it just me?) Go NaBloWriMo!

Satur'dee

It is day something-or-rather of NaBloWriMo (I know I could find out what day it is by deducing the date, but I'm feeling too lazy to lift my hand to the top right-hand corner of my computer screen where the date and time lives! I can tell you it's Saturday, just by glancing at that corner, though. Gosh I'm good). Now for the meat of the entry:

• The image above is a manipulation (and, naturally, serious cropping) of an original piece of art done in really dark pencil (yes, that is the technical and Trisha-rifically correct term for the kind of pencil I'm talking about...because I say so!). It doubles as "song art". See, when I first started writing songs, I did a little picture - sometimes more than one - for each song. I've slacked off on that in recent years, mostly due to no longer having easy acesss to Photoshop, but maybe someday I'll get back into it!
  
  
• I finished reading ALEX CROSS'S TRIAL today. It was such an awful story, mostly because it was based on events of history. I have no idea how people can be so horrible, or ever could, even when it was 'the norm'. But at least not everyone in this story was horrible. I really enjoyed the fast-paced writing, short chapters, and Ben Corbett's voice. In short, it was an easily devoured, if shocking in parts, read. It doesn't have the realism of some nasty pieces of work I've read this year, which is probably a blessing - who wants to really truly be there in the awful moment with a story like this?
  
  
• As of this very second, I am up to page 63 in my paper-to-Scrivener editing, and my current word count is 99,441. Yay!! Under 100k again. But I have another 4.5k to cut before I'll be satisfied.
  
  
• I am thrilled to report that I have found my first beta reader! But I will report on that in more depth later! For now, I post this, in the hopes that everyone is having a great weekend even as I speak (or, rather, type).

In conclusion, thanks everyone for the input on the face transplant topic. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who'd prefer to walk around with a fake face (or no face at all) than to sport somebody else's dead one.

NaBlo and NaNo...and face transplants

That picture is actually a photograph of a photocopy of a pen/ink drawing. By pen/ink, I mean it was an inky pen that I drew with and then wet with some water to make it more 'inky smudgy' like. I recall that the original paper is kind of crinkly because of the water I dabbed onto it. It's one of many pictures I copied from a photograph originally, so I can't claim all the credit. Still, I like it! And I am using it for this year's NaNoWriMo profile picture.

Yep, I'm all ready for NaNo this year!! I can't wait! I'm writing two novels, or at least I'm spending 15 days on one, and 15 days on the other. It's going to be tough, because sometimes with NaNo I finish my 50k and then get to slack off. This year, I won't be able to slack off for the entire month! Unless I make 50k on each novel really quickly. But no, even then I won't be able to slack off till I reach 50k on my second novel.

Today is head cutty cutty day, so wish me luck! Naturally by that I don't mean I'm getting my head cut off - wouldn't be much point in asking you to wish me luck with that, would there? Speaking of that, I have always maintained that if the time should ever come that I should need a face transplant, I'd ask to be put out of my misery instead. Naturally I can't really say what I'd do until I'm in that situation (which hopefully I never will be!), but at this stage I just think I would too gross having someone's dead face on my head. Same with any exterior limb, I think. Weird that having an organ transplant isn't nearly as gross to me.

What about you? Would you get a face transplant if you lost your own face?

Awards & NaBloWriMo day...what's it?

I'm totally slack when it comes to Awards and acknowledging them/passing them on. But I figure since I'm having trouble deciding what to post for today's NaBloWriMo entry, I'd take the opportunity to get all caught up!

In recent times, I've received the following awards:

• Versatile Blogger award from Jenni Merritt (September 14th) and Dangerous Dan (September 18th)
• Irresistibly Sweet award from Jenni Merritt (September 14th)
• 7x7 Link Award from Jen Burke (October 11th)

First off, thank you to Jenni, Dan and Jen for these awards! I really appreciate that you guys thought of me! But since I have previously won the Versatile and Irresistibly Sweet awards, I thought I'd cheat and just respond fully to the third award in that list, the 7x7 Link Award, which is entirely new to me! From Jen's example, I get the idea that I'm supposed to nominate blog posts of mine that fit the following categories:

• Most Beautiful: Oh, I don't know! I quite liked this one.
  
  
• Most Helpful: I don't tend to do 'help' posts, I tend to ramble on about whatever crap enters my mind at any given time. But I think at least a few people got something out of my CreateSpace proof copies...answering some questions blog post.
  
  
• Most Popular: Based on number of comments alone, as Jen did with hers, I'd say my First Campaigner Challenge entry wins this one. But if you look at which post has been visited the most, you'd find it was one I wrote during the A-Z blogging challenge in April, about Voltron.
  
  
• Most Controversial: I don't really do controversy on this blog. Don't get me wrong, I've made my fair share of bold political statements in various places online before, but this is my writing blog and I tend not to get too in people's faces here. However, I guess the obvious one to choose is one I wrote recently for the Peace Blogfest.
  
  
• Most Successful: What makes a blog post successful? I guess this question feels slightly like a repeat of the "Popular" one, and I could give the same answer here as I did there. But instead I'll go with my award-winning Power of Tension Blogfest entry.
  
  
• Most Underrated: After a very, very quick browse, I'd say my entry in the Inanimation Blogfest...
  
  
• Most Prideworthy: Probably this one, in which I reviewed my Goals met to that point in 2011. I have since met more, but it was cool to lay them out the way I did in this post.

Then I need to pass the award on, to 7 blogger friends:

1. Jenn @ Hunting Sea Glass with Wolves
2. Brooke R. Busse
3. Deniz Bevan
4. Madeline Bartos
5. Charlotte Jane Ivory
6. Michael @ Hypothetically Writing
7. Jenni Merritt

I will tell you all that you've won, but maybe not before you stumble across the truth on your own (because I have to post this now, then run off from work!). P.S. If there are typos, I will have to fix them later! ARGH running late!

Bloody Mary(s)

(NaBloWriMo) I don't have much experience with Bloody Mary drinks, but I do have one particular fond memory:

I also clearly recall the SUPERNATURAL episode titled "Bloody Mary" - scary stuff! Naturally, though, the SUPERNATURAL dudes weren't the inventors of this myth.

According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia: "Bloody Mary is a ghost or witch featured in English folklore. She is said to appear in a mirror when her name is called three times or sometimes more while in a dark room, depending upon the version of the story, often as part of a game or dare."

She's also a crazy mean old Queen from English history - Mary Tudor was her name.

What do you think of when you hear the words Bloody Mary?

Another day missed

I was going to try and throw something together for my daily NaBloWriMo post last night, just before bedtime, but in the end I said..."Naaaaaaah." So there you have it. Anyway...because I seem to have a policy now that requires me to put an image in every blog post I do, I'm going to share this one:

This is a photo I took when in Melbourne (at the airport) in errr, 2008 I think. I had gone there for a professional conference (library stuff), but of course professional stuff doesn't preclude enjoying an icy cold beer at the airport. Which is precisely what I did!

I think this picture really sums up travelling for me.

In other news, I'm up to page 33 of my edit transfers. Slow going, but at least it's going at all!

I need need NEED to answer today's (or yesterday's...or the day before's, really) NaBloWriMo prompt, because it says this:

Given that Autumn is busting out all over, which is your favourite season and why? Alternately, which is your LEAST favourite season and, of course, why?

First off, we don't have autumn here right now. We have spring, going into summer. And to answer the second part, I abhor summer to the fibre of its very being, especially given how humid our summers are getting down here. I recently heard it summarised something like this: "Perth is becoming Melbourne, and Melbourne is becoming Hobart...and Hobart's becoming the Antarctic."

And to answer the first part, my favourite season is winter, autumn and spring, in that order.

I wrote some stories for the Chrysalis Experiment

And by "some" I mean 40, to date. By the end of the year it will be 52!

Anyway... NaBloWriMo, Day 9! I'd like to kick off the entry proper by saying: To all who have left me a comment lately but haven't received a visit in return...I apologise! But that's one of my 'things' to work on tomorrow, so look out for me invading your blog.

Now, on some other notes:

1. Good news: I finished this week's Chrysalis story (#40) with mere hours to spare. Bad news? It's not really finished, and it's not really a short story. Sigh. Another one to add to a very long list.
2. I haven't forgotten my Globetrotter Series, in fact I was just thinking about getting my next post up very soon. Just not sure when... Stay tuned!
3. On the paper edit transfers, I'm up to page 23. Of 188 pages. The revised word count (in Scrivener) is 100,962. Better than the 101-something I had before. But I haven't got to the really good bits yet (i.e. good bits for ripping out unnecessary words). Soon, my pretties. Sooooon.
4. I'm currently reading ALEX CROSS'S TRIAL by James Patterson. I haven't read much of it, not at all, but I like it so far! Prior to that, I read THE PACT by Jodi Picoult. I can't even remember if I've reviewed that at GoodReads...

Aaaaaand that's me done for Day 9!

Day 8

Day 8 of NaBloWriMo, and no prompt to go on since yesterday's. I've done a tiny bit of work on my paper edit transfer to digital, but not much. I'm up to page 15 of 188 pages. And gee, it's not long till October's over!! Time is running out. In short, I've got to get my act together! I also have yet to write this week's Chrysalis story, but oh well, there's always tomorrow (Sunday) night.

At present I'm watching DEEP IMPACT, an ARMAGEDDON-style end-of-the-world story that is, quite frankly, way better than ARMAGEDDON. This is one of the movies I looked at while writing up my honours thesis in 2002. If you're into that kind of movie and haven't seen DEEP IMPACT, I recommend it for sure!

This is going to be one of those "short" blog entries where I end it...now. But really I just wanted to say hi! I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Day 5...slash 7

It's day 7 of NaBloWriMo for me, but so far I only see up to prompt 5 on the official blog, so... Here goes!

What is your favourite way to spend time with your family?

I love going over to my mum's house and sitting out on her backyard deck with a beer. Or a gin and tonic. Or a glass of wine. Or some other kind of...alcoholic drink. Yes, fun times with the family tend to involve at least some kind of alcohol. No doubt that's a bad, unhealthy thing, but it's not like we get trashed. We just enjoy a nice drink to unwind.

Speaking of alcohol, I was reading an article in the newspaper this morning about how some doctor guy in Perth has recommended that Australia follow Norway's lead in locking up alcoholic pregnant women until they've given birth, to stop them drinking. I think this is a viable idea, but it also smacks of deprivation of liberty or something, right? And yet it isn't mostly about the mothers, it's about the unborn children who are being damaged because the mothers can't control their drinking. But maybe they should lock the drinking fathers up too?

I'll leave you with a picture taken in a place called Hamlin Bay, which until I went down south recently I'd never heard of. This, my friends, is a winter's day in Western Australia:

Way way way ahead now

Well, yesterday's prompt for NaBloWriMo isn't even up yet, so I can't respond to that. So I guess I'll just tell you about my editing 'transfer' progress instead. Sadly, there's not much to tell. I've found my evenings taken up with romantic barbecues by the river, rebuilding my Macbook and sitting on the couch staring dumbly into space. Oh, and discovering that my bass guitar has a battery that goes flat even if you don't have the guitar plugged in, and that the bass won't work without said battery. D'oh.

But in other writerly news... My Chrysalis friends and I have started to think about what we might do next year. There's the possibility of doing the same thing we did this year, but it doesn't look like most of us favour that notion. I had thought of trying to write a new song each week in 2012. Jenn has suggested some kind of novella-per-month deal, and that sounds intriguing to me. I wondered if I could adapt my song-writing task to be one concept album per month (never done a concept album...sounds fun!) or even try to write soundtracks for my novels. Needless to say, we're undecided and it's all up in the air. But the planning is almost as fun as the execution! Stay tuned to find out more, I guess!

In closing, the art above is 'fan art' for the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. It's certainly not perfect, like her weirdly proportioned body and the 'filler' background (I suck at backgrounds). But I like the colours!

Fifteen-year-old me

Yesterday's prompt for NaBloWriMo is: What advice would you give your fifteen-year-old self? I'm a day ahead, but I'm going to just go with that. Anyway, in that picture up there, I'm younger than 15, but you know, all those years seem to merge into each other for me now that I'm all old and, like...31. But anyway, what advice would I give my 15-year-old self? I'd say, "Trisha, you are not fat!"

I'd also tell myself, "And yeah, in some ways you're a dag but you are going to grow up and blossom and find your party pants and you are going to learn guitar and learn how to make songs (I know you don't believe me, but you are going to do it...and nobody's going to teach you, you're going to teach yourself)...and you are going to get serious about your writing, and you're going to write heaps of novels. I am not even kidding you here! You're going to travel the world - twice - and make heaps of friends around the globe. Oh, and believe it or not, you're going to find a wonderful guy. Basically, your life is going to turn out great."

I already failed NaBloWriMo?!!?

Yep. Forgot to post anything yesterday. My excuse is that I had an appointment with a plastic surgeon. No, seriously. I've got this (benign) skin cancer thing I have to have cut out of my forehead and this guy's going to make sure I don't end up with a big hole in my head. Unfortunately it seems I will have scarring, and permanent numbness on a part of my scalp. This thing is in a really unfortunate position on my forehead where a prominent nerve happens to sit. Luckily though, the plastic surgeon informed me he doesn't plan on pulling my skin together vertically, meaning I won't have one eyebrow permanently 2 inches higher than the other (okay, that's me paraphrasing, but you get the gist). Good to know, doc. Good to know!

Damn you, hole in the ozone layer!!

But back to my NaBlo plans... To be honest, I didn't even realise there were prompts for this thing. I've missed every prompt so far. Do I not rock, people?! Anyway, I thought I'd respond to the first 3 prompts to date, as briefly as I can. 1) Why do you blog? Because it was suggested all aspiring authors should blog; because blogging writers are super cool; and 'cause I like to write! 2) If you could live the life of any heroine or hero from one of your favorite books, which one would it be? I saw someone else mention Elizabeth Bennett, and I thought that was a really good call! 3) Many people have lucky socks or shirts or stones or pens. Is there an object you own that you consider lucky? If so, why? I know this is a really boring answer, but...no.

With that, I'm outta here!

Hale Hoe-down on Monument Hill

NaBloWriMo

I, uh...did nothing today. That's not true, I did things. But none of them were related to my writing. For shame!! But I guess that little thing called life sometimes gets in the way. Anyway, I do have something to talk about today, and it will involve me posting a photograph or...seven.

I rarely get sick, but if I do I like to nip it in the bud by staying at home and drinking red wine, orange juice and scotch. But moving on...! This Tuesday just gone, I was off from work with a cold. Unfortunately it was cleaner day, so I had to be out of the house for a few hours. Don't you just hate timing like that? I really wanted to just lie on the couch. No such luck, but I did make the most of those displaced hours.

After I'd done boring crap nobody wants to have to do, particularly while on sick leave, I wound up at Monument Hill Memorial in Fremantle, on the very day that we'd had hale warnings and so on. I sat there doing my paper edit - ha! I did mention my writing after all! - and watching the pretty groovy weather from the dry warmth of my car. I'm not going to say much more, except to explain that one minute I could see the ocean, the next everything was all white-grey, and finally the skies cleared enough for me to glimpse patches of blue sky. All this in the space of...well, less than an hour at least. In short, slightly cressy weather!

Once An Imago

Once An Imago

The clock strikes twelve and Annie trips on the third step, embarking on the tumble to her near-death. Tommy's Grandmother hands him a carefully-wrapped present; her hands are shaking and the box slips through Tommy's fingers; everyone watches its descent. Lauren pauses in the act of reaching for her hand mirror as the doorbell rings. Rowan shakes his head, which is full of thoughts about how gorgeous Sandra looks tonight, and how he can't believe he ever thought Denise Rowland was hotter.

The cripple emerges from the condemned building, beginning his morning shuffle downtown. He wafts in a miasma of decay, an excellent example of what not to become. He's a survivor who foolishly refused to let the war kill him when he had the chance. The promise of what might have been haunts him every moment of every day, a giant lacuna lurking in his shadow. He passes people on the street and imagines the way his tale would make them oscitate. Their faces would turn bright red as they realised their bodies had betrayed how little they cared. He reflects on where he came from, and where he's ended up.

He thinks, Synchronicity.

---

I was tempted to let this post stand on its own, without any 'non-fiction' addition. That way it would truly be a 200-word post. But I just have to explain that this post is counting not only as my 2nd Campaigner Challenge entry but also as my first post for NaBloWriMo, which I am insane enough to have signed up for at sort of the last minute.

I also have to say that during October, and therefore NaBloWriMo, I am going to be reporting on how my transferral of paper edit notes to my Scrivener file for SUNDOWN goes - because yes, today I finally finished the paper edit!!! So now it's time to get that all into digital format. In time for November to start. Yes, friends, I've got a month to get this off my to-do list so I can relax for the rest of the year (and by 'relax' I of course mean write 2 novels in November, then spend the rest of the year scrambling to get my other 2011 goals finished). For the record, my word count before beginning to transfer edits is 101,459. I want it to be more like 95k by the time I'm done.