With 2007 drawing to a close and 2008 on the horizon, I thought I’d put up a little list of my fav things in 2007, as well as a list of things I plan to do in 2008.

Fav reads in 2007

(which may or may not have been released in 2007. I’m behind with my tbr pile)

1. Dead Heat, by Dick Francis

2. The Devil Inside, by Jenna Black

3. Blood Bound, by Patricia Briggs

4. The Perfect Rake, by Anne Gracie

5. Priceless, by Kelly Hunter

Fav Movies in 2007

1. The Bourne Ultimatum

2. Live Free or Die Hard

3. Hairspray

4. The Waitress

5. Crank or Shooter (can’t decide)

Fav TV shows or mini series in 2007

1. Supernatural

2. City Homicide

3. Top Gear (especially the specials!)

4. Band of Brothers

5. Any of the various UK lifestyle shows I watch

Things I plan to do in 2008.

1. Relax more

Okay, so being a writer isn’t the most strenuous job out there (I had a strenuous job when I was a cook, and ended up in hospital for nine days…) but it still often feel like I’m chained to the computer. Worse still, I often feel guilty when I’m not there. Next year, I want ditch the guilt and enjoy life beyond the computer a little bit more.

2. Read more.

This one ties in with the first one, because for me, reading is one of the great pleasures in life. But my reading has dropped to appalling levels over the last couple of years. I’m planning to fix that, and read more books next year.

3. Enjoy the places I visit more.

I went to conferences at Dallas and Houston this year, and didn’t see a whole lot more that the four walls of the conference venues. Next year a plan to spend a little more time sightseeing, and make the 25+ hours spent on planes getting over there more worthwhile!

4. Eat less.

Or maybe that should be eat wiser. Every year I vow to lose weight, and at the end of every year I find myself stuck with the same chubby body I started with.  Hoping to change that in 2008!

5. Get fitter

I’ve already gotten a head start on this one, so at least there’s going to be one item I’ll succeed with in 2008!

my computer has gradually been getting noisier over the last few weeks, but in the last couple of days, its reached breaking point. For me, not the computer. Its been really hot here again and as the day warms up, my computer gets noisier. It’s gotten to the point where the thing sounds like a jet plane, and it just becomes impossible to be in the same room as it.  We thought it might have been the power source going, but it turns out its the cpu fan. Hot weather doesn’t agree with it, apparently. So, Pete’s off to the swap meet tomorrow to buy me a new one, and hopefully that’ll solve the problem.

In the mean time, I’ve been using my alphasmart to write, propping myself up in front of the tv to watch the cricket and typing during the ads. It’s actually worked a treat–the muse is amused by the different surroundings and has been merrily bubbling away with ideas. I worked on the Quinn short yesterday, and Riley 7 today, and probably managed to get 10 pages done overall. Not bad considering I wouldn’t have managed more than 10 pages over the last seven days.  I’m hoping to get more writing done tomorrow, but they’re predicting temps in the high thirties again tomorrow and the computer probably won’t be fixed until the afternoon. Could be a good day to take my first swim for the season, I think!

Riley 7 progress meter:

isn’t that amazing? This year seems to have zoomed by, and I think my head is still spinning (although that could just be lack of tea or the early hour I get up) 

It seems the muse has gone into Christmas mode, because she’s just refusing to work at the computer. Yesterday I ended up grabbing the alphasmart and writing in front of the TV. That worked–I got about three pages written while watching things like Grand Designs, Build a New Life, and an episode of Band of Brothers.  Three pages isn’t a lot, but it’s a whole lot more than I would have gotten staring at my computer screen. I doubt I’m going to get a whole lot done today, as I have to face the madness of the shops and get some food shopping done. Then we’re off to Pete’s sisters, for a Christmas eve dinner and early present opening. Should be fun

Have a great (and safe) Christmas everyone, and I’ll talk to you all in a couple of days!

we had lots more rain here in Melbourne town yesterday, but we were luckier than many people, because we had no damage and no trees town. I did take some more pics just to prove we did indeed have a moat around us. This first one is taken from just inside the front door–you can see the bottom steps disappearing under the water.

And this one from the front door again, looking toward the now-full pond. This time you can see the waterfall from the spouting

writing wise, I haven’t down much. The muse has been having too much fun watching all the water. When we weren’t doing that, I was watching the cricket. Bit I’m hoping to get back on track today, because I’d really like to finish Quinn’s story before Christmas, so I can get back to Mercy.

I know I’ve harped on about how bad the drought is, and how much we need it to rain….but in typical Melbourne fashion,  the weather gods really gave it to us yesterday. What a doozy of a day! Rain, thunderstorms, flash floods, hail…you name it, I think we got it yesterday. The storm hit us about 6.30 in the evening, cutting the power briefly and overflowing everything. We had waterfalls off the gutters,  a river flowing down the driveway and a moat around the house. We were lucky, though–we didn’t have any damage, inside or out. Other people (like Mel) weren’t so lucky. Here’s some pics (these were taken after the heaviest showers, so the water is starting to retreat already)

see the pond in this one? That’s a foot of water sitting in it–it was empty half an hour previously. This morning it’s overflowing, because more storms came through last night. I love the sound of rain on tin roofs…but not so much at four in the morning and when the rain is so name heavy you have to shout to talk!

I got the contract for the above UK anthology the other day, so the muse decided it had better start finishing the story. I think I told you about this one a while ago…it’s set in Riley’s world, but it’s told from Quinn’s point of view. At this stage, Kellen is also (briefly) mentioned, and it’s set sometime between the third and fourth books. I’d already written about half of the story before the contracts came, but it came to a stop simply because I couldn’t think of a suitable bad guy to use.

That changed yesterday, when I suddenly thought of the Chameleons I’d mentioned in Tempting Evil. Remember they had kits? Well, the muse (for no reason at all that I can think of–I mean, I wasn’t rereading the book or even thinking about it) suddenly latched on to that, and thought, hey, what if the Chameleons weren’t all killed in the Directorate clean-up of Starr’s labs? What if one of them escaped and is now seeking vengeance?

With that thought, we had our bad guy, and the muse leapt into action (and here I was thinking she’d slacked off for Christmas). The upshot of all that is that I wrote 6 pages yesterday, and I’m hoping to have the story finished by the end of the week. Then I’ll let it sit for a while, before I re-edit and send it on to Miriam to make sure it’s okay. I’m not entirely sure Kellen will stay in this story–I guess it just depends how the word count goes. If it’s over, he’s out. He’s not vital to the story–he’s basically just there to add a little tension

I almost didn’t put these pics up, especially after I saw the fabbo gingerbread house Rachel did (check out the Dec 10 post). Makes mine look quite tame by comparison . But I had great fun making them, and besides, making gingerbread houses isn’t quite the art here in Oz that it is in America. (We Aussies tend to avoid cooking when the days are hot, and it is summer here right now and believe me, it’s damn hot!)

So, here they are. I forgot to cut doors and windows in them, so I had to make do with lollie ones

have arrived. Only I’m beginning to think Bantam have forgotten that Australia is basically on the other side of the world, and that sometimes things take a little longer to get here. Especially around Christmas. Why do I think this? Because the copy edits arrived in my hot little hands on Wednesday 11th December. When did Bantam want them back? Wednesday 11th December. Now, I work fast, but not that fast! lol. Needless to say, I sent a quick email off asking if next week was okay.  I haven’t had a reply yet, but considering it’s the silly season, I guess that’s not surprising. And I can only do what I can do.

Needless to say, everything else is once again on the backburner. I’ve got two anthology stories to finish as well as trying to keep Mercy going, and I think one of the anthology stories is going to have to go. I might have had a chance if they’d given me more lead-in (aka thinking) time, but right now, things are simply crazy. And I’ve had enough crazy this year to last me a life-time.

Mercy Burns Progress meter

I’m continuing to write in fits and spurts, but I am slowly getting there. I didn’t write yesterday or today, but I got seven pages done on Thursday, which wasn’t a bad effort. I’m really enjoying the characters in Mercy–and the story is starting to roll along. Although there is one section where I was thinking ‘God, this is boring! Get it moving woman!’, but at least I can fix that up later. Words on paper is the most important thing in a first draft. Once I’ve gotten to the end, and know the characters and the story, I can go back and fix all the horrible bits.  I’m hoping to get some writing done tomorrow, although I have a heap of roses that need to be planted out tomorrow as well (it’s always a dangerous thing when I discover a nursery, let alone one that specializes in award winning roses )

One good thing though–I have the majority of my Christmas shopping done. Yay me! I just have to get a few more things for Kasey, something for Pete, and then I’m done. No last minute shopping for me this year. But there is going to be some baking–I said I’d do a gingerbread house for a Kris Kringle, so now I have to do it. I used to make tons of them when I worked as a cook at Essendon, but I haven’t done them since. If it turns out, I’ll post a pic

Mercy Burns Progress meter

For some dumb reason, I’ve set the beginning of Mercy in San Francisco–a place I’ve been to once, and absolutely love. Trouble is, I know nothing about the inner workings of the place. You know, the ordinary every day stuff that any one who lives there would probably know. Or at least, they’d know how to find out. And the Internet is proving a bit useless in some areas. So, I thought I’d put my questions here, and see if anyone can help me (please!)

Okay, here goes:

1. There’s been a fire in the Marina District, in Filmore street. My hero was seen leaving the scene and is ‘helping’ police with their investigations. My question is, would he be taken back to the Northern District Police Department or somewhere else?

2. If he is taken back to the Northern District, what does the place look like? The only pic I can find shows a big white building that is basically featureless. Also, is there a ‘help desk’ or something in the foyer (where my heroine could go ask about my hero?)

3. How long are police allowed to question a suspect before they either have to charge them or release them? (there’s no real evidence against my hero–he wasn’t actually at the fire. It’s a set-up)

4. Is it safe saying the West Portal Station is a train station? I’ve seen pics, and it seems to have trams running through it (at least, they look like trams to me), but I’ve seen references to trains and buses, so I’m confused.

that’s it for the moment….I think.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

Mercy Burns Progress Meter