My FIRE proof (no pun intended) arrived

It arrived!! And before anyone gets the wrong idea (again) (like last time), I'm not being published. This was a free proof copy that I got as a result of participating in ABNA this year. I highly recommend that everyone participate in ABNA every year, so you can get your free proof copy too! I don't know that they do this every year, of course, but it's worth the shot! It's also worth participating in NaNoWriMo, as they usually give you a free proof copy too. For more information, you can check out this post I did a while back answering people's questions.




FYI, this was the last proof copy I got. You may notice that I stuck with the same cover design template. Both pieces of art are mine, but the template was a free one available from CreateSpace. I was pretty excited when I realised you could change the colour scheme. I figure I'll get all of the SUNDOWN novels proofed up, and all with the same template...just in different colours. And then they shall all sit on my shelf and they shall all look pretty together!

In other news...I've been kind of slack with the blogging, and that is probably because I've been kind of very slack with everything else writing-related. I'm supposed to be posting my Chrysalis story this week over at the Chrysalis blog, but I haven't quite finished it yet. I only started it last night. One excuse is that the prompt went up late. The main excuse though is no excuse at all - just a slacker's pathetic reason for why she didn't get her act together sooner. However, I have to say I'm quite enjoying my life right now, so I guess I'm okay with slacking just a little.

Still, there are two major goals I have yet to meet this year: Preparing SUNDOWN for beta readers (including actually sending it out to them), and completing a preliminary read-through/edit of NAUSICAA. I know I've got 5 months to get those two things done in, and that's plenty of time. But I do feel the days ticking away, slowly but surely. ;)

I just finished reading L.K. Madigan's FLASH BURNOUT, and absolutely adored it. You can read my review at GoodReads.

And in other news, I have a rooster in my back yard. I'm not sure if I mentioned him before, but my cat likes to chase him. Even at risk to himself (roosters have sharp beaks!).

So, I'm 31 now

Yesterday was my birthday, and now I'm 31. Technically I turned 31 at 1:30 am on the 26th, since that was the Western Australian equivalent of 6:30pm on the 25th of July in north-eastern England. I was born sometime between 6:00 and 6:30, can't remember quite when! Mum would be able to tell me if I could be bothered asking her right now!

Anyway, everytime a birthday comes around I get to thinking about what I've achieved in life so far, and what I have yet to achieve. Mostly I dwell on the good stuff I've done, and then I think about the fun stuff yet to come. Same thing this year. I'm pretty proud of what I've achieved in my time, even if there are some things I lament: I don't have a house, I don't have a nest egg of any kind, I don't have many savings. Still, I guess I've spent my money on great things - travel, a car, and lots of books.

This year started out full of inspiration, and it's still that way. I've achieved many of my year's goals so far, but still have some big ones to work on. I met an amazing man this year and am having the most brilliant (if at times challenging; oh yeah, he likes to challenge me like no other ever has) time with him. Basically, the future is bright, and I can't wait to experience it.

Happy birthday to me!

Travel Series...coming soon

"Travelling is a bug I can't be cured of.
And why would I want to be?"

I've travelled a lot, seen many amazing places, and I want to share my experiences with you! I intend to start a series here on my blog which will achieve that purpose. First though, I want to give a little introduction and/or background. I've been travelling since before I was born. Yep, my parents were far from home when I was born. There are a fair few countries I've never seen with my own eyes, but have technically visited while I existed in some form. But don't worry - I'll be confining my travel entries to places I've actually laid eyes on.

A great source of inspiration for me is the world trip I took in 1998 with my father. I was 17 and just out of high school. Instead of going straight into university as most people seem to do, I took a year off. Most of the first half of that year was spent on foreign soil, getting to know the world and my father in a whole new light. While there were a great many stressful moments, as there are bound to be if you're travelling with my Dad, there were more than enough amazing moments to compensate. I look back at those months with no little awe at the sorts of things I saw - breathtaking landscapes, insides of homeless shelters, bars where Al Capone hung out, Swiss glaciers... Sometimes we were at rock bottom, clawing our way up again. Other times we were in 5 star hotels eating pizza. I can't thank my father enough for giving me the chance to see these wonders (and sometimes, horrors) with my own eyes. I think every teen (or even adult) should be so lucky.

So, that was World Trip #1. But wait, there's more! In 2004, I booked another round-the-world ticket. This time I travelled alone, and my fifteen-stop ticket took me to thirteen different countries. I'll be mentioning some of the places I visited during 2004 too, later on in the series. There are also the shorter trips I've taken, which may merit talking about at some point. For a start, though, I'll focus on the 1998 trip, starting with the Australian leg which took my father, uncle and I across Australia from west to east (approx. 4000 km, or 2485 mi). And we'll see where it goes from there.

Retro Summer Blogfest

Sure, it's not summer here, but I can still participate in this Blogfest. Mostly because I say so!

Amy from The Ramblings of Amy is hosting the Retro Summer Blogfest today, and sucker for music blogfests that I am, I just had to sign up!! The idea is to find an old mixed audio CD that you haven't listened to in a while, and post the following:

1. Artist name and song title
2. What the song means to you and why you like it.

I was thinking of a particular mix CD but I haven't been able to locate it, so I opted to use a list of songs I had on a mix tape (one of MANY) from back in the day (as in, the high school day). So without further ado...

SIDE ONE

1. SMASHING PUMPKINS - "Zero"; it's a classic tune from SP, though not one of my all-time favourites.
   
2. VERUCA SALT - "Seether"; always reminds me of the power chicks have to ROCK IT on guitar
   
3. SMASHING PUMPKINS - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"; this is the first song I listened to after we got our new and (at the time) fancy stereo...and I remember going, "WOAH, this song has some serious BASS in it!"
   
4. VERUCA SALT - "Cock of Nothing"; noticing a pattern here? SP...VS...SP...VS. Yeah. Anyway, this is a fabulous rockin' b-side from this band
   
5. SOUNDGARDEN - "The Day I Tried To Live"; a song from the great album Superunknown, and at my time it was one of my favourites
   
6. SILVERCHAIR - "Suicidal Dream"; kings of emo before emo was emo...or something? Got to love the 'Chair for taking me back to my youth
   
7. SMASHING PUMPKINS - "To Forgive"; this is another that really isn't a favourite anymore. Maybe I listened it to death back then?? Still, a great song.
   
8. SOUNDGARDEN - "Karaoke"; amazing b-side from these awesome dudes
   
9. SILVERCHAIR - "The Closing"; I always loved the way this album ended...with this song.
   
10. VERUCA SALT - "All Mine"; yet another brilliant b-side from the queens of alt rock
    
11. JEBEDIAH - "Denver"; b-side from this Perth band, and a fast-paced energizing rockin' tune
    
12. VERUCA SALT - "The Morning Sad"; another case of me looking back and going...huh? Why'd I choose this one? Not that I don't like it, it's just there are heaps of other songs on this album I would now choose instead.
    

SIDE TWO

1. EVERCLEAR - "Santa Monica"; classic tune, always puts me in mind of L.A.
2. POWDERFINGER - "Living Type"; still my favourite song from these dudes...except maybe the utterly brilliant "Capoicity"
3. SMASHING PUMPKINS - "Today"; a timeless classic, yet one I would not put on a mix tape today. Unless it was a tape for my boyfriend titled "You SERIOUSLY haven't heard this song before?!"
4. VERUCA SALT - "With David Bowie"; once again, no longer a fave, and this album has much more rockin' tunes. I still like the sentiment behind it though - being a teenaged girl in school crushing on a rock star. Been there, DONE THAT. (still doing it actually. hehehe)
5. TRIPPING DAISY - "Cause Tomb Shop"; b-side (yep, I love me some awesome b-sides) from a little-known band I always associate with people who are off their faces (due to their interesting video clips, especially the one for "I Got A Girl"...)
6. SILVERCHAIR - "Pop Song For Us Rejects"; picture this... two high school friends, awoken unhappily from their only-just-begun slumber by the alarm clock, which was in fact a clock radio blasting Triple J and this song. First time I heard it, while Freakshow was Triple J's feature album of the week. 1997, my friends. 1997.
7. FOO FIGHTERS - "Floaty"; I skipped this song once, when my cousin and his sexy friends were over, and one of the sexiest guys got up and turned it back on and said, "You can't skip that song! It's a brilliant song!" I think I was about 15
8. FOO FIGHTERS - "Everlong"; still one of my favourite songs by the Foos, and a stunning tune when stripped back
9. EVERCLEAR - "Summerland"; another thing I now wonder why I chose, when there were others that could easily have filled its spot.
10. HOLE - "Miss World"; a Hole classic, but where the heck was "Violet"?!?! is what I'm now asking myself.
11. SMASHING PUMPKINS - "Frail and Bedazzled"; b-side, a tune from Pisces Iscariot, and a rockin' invigorating sound!
12. EVERCLEAR - "You Make Me Feel Like A Whore"; classic tune and one that still gets me up and feeling like dancing. Still, not sure it'd fit on a mix tape of mine nowadays.
13. FAITH NO MORE - "Your Last Cup of Sorrow" (sic); yeah, that's how I wrote it. Aww, high school me was so cute! I saw FNM recently in concert, very awesome experience. And this is a great song, but nowhere near their best.
14. GREEN DAY - "Emenius Sleepus"; this was a b-side on one of the singles of theirs I bought. It took me many years before I even bought a full album by Green Day. But I do appreciate them for who and what they are. hehe

Okay...I'm done, and it's way past bedtime so I'm signing off!