It's Oscar time again! Right now I'm green with envy because my company's managing director is about to walk the red carpet at Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. He financed the The Messenger which is up for two awards--Best Supporting Actor (Woody Harrelson) and Best Writing-Original Screenplay (Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman). Pretty exciting, huh?

Once the nominations came through, of course I immediately started daydreaming about what I'd wear if I ever had the chance to go to the Academy Awards. My style inspiration is Elizabeth Taylor, who in 1970 wore a stunning violet (to match her eyes!) gown by Edith Head. Pictured below with Richard Burton, the dress's bodice is perfectly moulded to Liz's body. A simple but hideously expensive necklace and high, Grecian-style hair complete the look--elegant glam!

If you were invited to the Oscars, what would fashion choices would you make? Frilly frou-frou? Elegant glam? Maybe you'd err on the side of controversy and pick something Cher or Bjork would be proud of?

Talk about a win-win situation. I got a pair of new running shoes and my cat Possum got a new box to sleep in. 

I'm a big fan of craft books. I'm building quite a library. The latest addition is titled with a phrase I'm all too familiar with: 'Thanks, But This Isn't For Us - A (sort of) Compassionate Guide to Why Your Writing is Being Rejected' by Jessica Page Morrell. She starts with the obvious: "A naked truth about the publishing industry is that far more manuscripts are rejected than are published." She estimates the proportion of green lights to rejections at less than 1%. Yet, we dogged unpubs persist in trying, don't we?

Jessica explains common "deal breakers" that hinder success. For example: excesses in terms of characters and plots, one-dimensional bad guys, all-too-coincidental concidences, stories where everything goes peachy-keen for the protagonist without any real conflict. While the book is sympathetic to the plight of the unpubbed, she also tells us to toughen up. "This business is as gentle as the main drag in Deadwood in 1876." 


What I like about Jessica's guide is that she gives examples of what works, what doesn't and why. Plus, she throws in doable exercises to combat cookie-cutter villains and outlandish plots. I'm sure I'll be thumbing through this how-to for years to come.

This is my first attempt at posting an untitled blog. Gasp! Will the cyber world end???? Probably not. I just couldn't think of a snappy title because I used up all my brain power working on my current book. If you'd like to discuss snappy book titles, check out Bev Katz Rosenbaum's blog.

Tomorrow (Friday), I'm using up even more brain cells at my other cyber home, We Love YA. I'm talking about getting to The End of a novel. 

I'm very excited to report that HarperCollins/Eos author Tracey O'Hara and I will present a workshop together at the Romance Writers of Australia conference this August. 

Tracey and I go back a ways. We're both former Golden Heart and Emerald Award finalists, and we've shared quite a few writing highs and lows. We'll be talking about self-promotion on a budget for both published and yet-to-be published authors. Hope to see you there!


Momentum stats: Pretty good! I've been out of town, but I'm about to dive right back into my latest wip.

It's my turn to blog at the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood this Tuesday, Feb 16, U.S. time. Come over and in the conversation about having a (writing) room of one's own. 

Okay, so my cats, Possum and Pinklepurr, are adopted siblings and they're not in love, but clearly they enjoy each other's company.

We don't make a huge deal out of Valentine's Day in our house. It's not that we're cynical about commercialism. We just think it's nicer and more heartfelt to show the love every day and not just once a year. 

Still, this doesn't mean I've lost out in terms of chocolate today. Hubby and I have been buying each other Gold Lindt Bunnies every day for the past week. I know--Easter is in April this year, but you've gotta eat these things as soon as they hit the shops.

*Momentum Status: Excellent!
(*If you're just tuning in, this status update relates to the progress of my latest novel and not the progress of my chocolate consumption. Though, the chocolate consumption is also excellent, thanks for asking.) 

My stack of Macs.

Way back in the Dark Ages, when I first started writing for fun, I used a chisel and tablet...er, pencil and paper. We didn't even have a typewriter, let alone a computer, so longhand was the only way to go. I still have several notebooks crammed with my childish scrawl. I was prolific at writing drivel back then!

Later, fortunes changed and I've had several laptops over the years. I relied so much on Word that now my handwriting is even worse than it was at age 13. A while ago, I decided there were too many distractions at home (renovations--arrgh!) and the local library seemed like paradise. 

One day I hadn't even planned on going to the library after finishing at the day job, but I'd accidentally locked myself out of the house. I could've shopped instead but I went to the library to work with pen and paper. (See how disciplined I am?) And guess what? I wrote 10 whole pages within two hours, nothing short of a miracle. Now when I feel my writing's at a standstill, get that pen and paper out right away. 

Does writing in longhand turn you into a writing machine or would you rather write with a machine?

Last week, life pitched a curve ball. My dear father-in-law, Barry, passed away suddenly in the early hours of January 19. In the words of my mother-in-law, he was a real larrikin and his huge presence could still be felt all around us.  Both my in-laws have been so supportive and encouraging of my writing career over the years. I haven't written a word (fiction-wise) since last Tuesday, but I'm determined to get back in the saddle and make the "Good Father" proud. 

Right now, I have a book give-away happening at one of my group blogs, We Love YA. I'm talking about Sarah Dessen's novel, THAT SUMMER, so all you have to do is hop over to the blog and tell me about your perfect summer. 

Momentum status: Groan... 

I've been out of town. High school reunion. Need I say more? Actually, the reunion was a lot of fun and not as awkward as I expected it would be. I saw two of my BFFs for the first time in almost...a lot of years and it was like we'd never been apart, right down to the junk food binge at the end. 

In the picture below, Sam, me and Kerri.