POV

The rewrites for this round are finished!
TC is shaping up to be the most heavily edited/rewritten book I've worked on to date. I can't decide whether that's a good or a bad thing.
Once I've typed up the changes (I love writing longhand, but getting all the stuff into the computer is donkey work), I am changing the rest of the book (a fun 150 Word doc pages as it stands) to third person. Why would I do such a thing? Because suddenly, this book has not one, but three protagonists.
And I have a sneaky suspicion I'm going to introduce one more major plot point that came to me as I wrote the last scheduled scene.

Oh yes, this book is shaping up to be fun. Good thing I gave myself until January to polish it.
And then I get to write my new book! Full of magic, mythology and glorious, glorious death.

Can you tell I'd like to murder some of my current cast? No? Well, I would. Except it's a book about food and eating. I don't like death with my food. Which may have something to do with my recent dietary changes.
Boy, i can't wait to see how my next book is going to change my life.

I like change. I just don't like typing.

Shiny new projects

Nothing is as tempting as a new project.
Especially since The Book That Refuses To Roll Over And Get Edited is such a problem child.
So of course, all the other books are calling to me.
"Write me! I'll be fun!" "I'm great research." "Hey, did I tell you about this boy you should add to my story? He's fab!"
No. bad stories. Go back to your ideas box.

The good thing is, TBTRTROAGE is getting better with eacha ddition. The bad thing, it's taking longer and longer to 'fix' it each time. I *think* it's fixed well enough to withstand editing, but you never know. It's also shaping up to be my longest project to date (apart from Ye Very Firste Booke of Crapola, aka, The Chick-Lit), which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The magazine pitches are getting mildly better, it seems. At least people are replying to my emails now (huge step up from shouting into the void), even if a lot of it is "Thanks, but no thanks." Some of them have liked my stuff, and quite a few are open to receiving pitches (I cold-queried them asking whether they'd like me to send something).

Baby steps forward. baby steps.

in other news, my pantry, fridge and freezer are now officially filled to capacity with yummies and staples. i have officially become obsessed with foraging and storing. I blame TBTRTROAGE for forcing me to have food on my mind every hour of the day.
That's right... blame the book...

How many earths does it take to satisfy you?

A fun little game to test your eco factor.

Consumer Consequences will ask you a series of questions about your lifestyle, and as you play, it will show you how many "Earths" of natural resources it would take to sustain all 6.6 billion humans… if everyone lived like you.

If everyone on earth lived like me, we'd need 1.3 earths! Gah!

How do you rate?

A new life

Every time my parents come to visit (a once-a-year month-long occasion), my life gets put on hold. At the time, it's stressful and draining, and it usually takes me about a week to recover.
But another thing happens. As I'm recuperating from a month of parental supervision (and no matter how laissez-faire your parents are, they can't help but, well, parent you), I look at my life. I mean, really look at it. And all those niggling little unhappinesses pop into focus.

This year, I had been discontent for most of it. Something was missing, things weren't quite right. oh, nothing was wrong per se, but there wasn't enough progress.

So I spent the last three weeks (after the parentals had left) ferreted away. Plotting. thinking. Making plans. Strategising. Scheming.

And guess what? Yeah, I have a plan. Did I say one? I have several! And I've already started putting some of them into action.

The biggest change I've made was probably with my nutrition. I'm loathe to call my change a diet, as it's not a short-term fix. I've worked out a complete food overhaul and spent about 200 hours studying everything from nutrition to Chinese medicine to work out what foods I should really have in my system. Then came the recipe hunt, and now is actually the first week that I'm trying to implement things.
Dieters will know this, but changing your eating habits is HARD. I've been feeling abit unwell, and I get weird food cravings (okay, so what else is new?). but hey, I'm doing something good for myself.

I've also looked at the people in my life, and who gives me something good, and who is toxic. I've been back in touch with people from my old lives, and that feels pretty good, too.

The last change has been around the house. Let's be frank about it, my householding skills suck monkey bottoms. Big time.
But I've worked out a plan (that's going to take me three months >_<) to give the place a good, thorough clean. like a very belated, dragged-out spring clean. It's not easy, but it's happening.

Finally not so much of a change, but a nice, detailed writing plan keeping me busy until March, with a rough outline until November next year. There are four books on the agenda (not counting the one I'm currently editing), and I'm very much looking forward to that.

Life is full, but it's rich and shiny. Life is good.