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.

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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.