C'est fini...

...well, almost. Rhys needs another read through and a bit more of a think and then he'll be tripping off to London.

I got a BIG box of books today! My Oz copies of ALL NIGHT WITH THE BOSS. If you're in NZ or Oz you'll be able to buy him from Sept 1 or you can buy online from Harlequin Australia from August - that's tomorrow!

Almost there!

... almost at August and only a couple of weeks til the RWNZ conference - I'm REALLY looking forward to it. It's my first conference and I'm excited about meeting all these great people ... and a little intimidated too...
... and almost at send-Rhys-away point. I just have a few sentences to slave over in the super important bits (ie the really emo stuff that I always need to dig that bit deeper in). Hard, hard work cos I end up feeling so sorry for my characters and its hard to make it harder for them!
Best get back to it!

I'm...

HERE today!

Failure to cope...

... is where I'm at, at the moment. I've been battling the most hellish headache the last three days - popping nurofen round the clock and not able to work at all. Twin 1 has a tummy upset, twin 2 has a cold, 3 year old boy has a cold and horrendous cough and 4 year old girl as bumps on both knees and aches all over.
Nice people (hi Nicole & Jenna!) have been swinging by my blog and I haven't been able to reply. I'm maybe 12 solid work hours away from subbing this damn book and I can't even manage a half hour on the thing.

Testing times.

Never mind. It will all work out in the end - it always does - right?
;)

Tomorrow I'm blogging over at Donna's - don't worry, I'll have come up with something at least vaguely interesting by then!

Have you read it??!!!

Don't worry. I'm not going to spoil it for you. I've had the most lovely day. Got my copy at 11:02 and my free cap for being in the first 100 customers (LOL). Got home, DH took the babies for a looooooong nap-time walk and I shamelessly put DVDs on for the big kids and sped read the whole book. OK, yes, I read the last chapter, then the last three. Then I went to the middle. And then the start and through again.
Hey, who cares what order I read it in, what matters is I LOVED IT.
I am v pleased with how things ended up. V pleased with my guessing - was right for lots of it. Some of it I don't think anyone could have predicted.
She is some lady. There is a huge skill in wordplay there and definitions and hidden meanings. What an imagination!!!

La la la...

la la la...
Ho hum. the edit is going slowly. but the tortoise gets there in the end right?
;)
No news to share but its been a good week.
It was our Nanny's birthday yesterday and so we had a party for her today - cue big cake, balloons and hilarious presents carefully selected from the $2 shop by the kids - wonderfully wrapped and topped with hand made cards which they laboured over for half the afternoon (ok, it took them about five minutes but it was a good effort)
(and don't worry she got a decent pressie from us too)

OMG - I can't BELIEVE I've only just thought of this (been in bookland) - its HARRY POTTER DAY tomorrow!!!! ANd yep, I'll be queuing and getting my copy as soon as I can. And then (get this) I'm going to read the last chapter. Then I'm handing it to hubby to read, and then nanny. While I FINISH THIS BOOK. Then I'll read the while thing from the start.
I know. I am bad. I always read the end first. I get too stressed if I don't know what happens when I read something. I tend to get really sucked into books and the characters are real, you know, they're real, they really do exist and so, finding out what happens is really, really important - this means I can't put the book down and actually live my life until I know - and some books take a while to read and there's dinner to cook, kids to attend to, husband to talk to...
so its easier to read the end first so if I have to put book down I can leave bookworld and cope because I know what happens.
Crazy but true.
Good thing I write romance eh? Cos I KNOW what happens at the end. The fun bit is the journey.
So no reading all of HP because I have to finish my own book as well. Then I'll feel REALLY happy. (Until I send it to Mme Ed then realise all the mistakes and lie awake at night worrying about what on earth she's making of it).
So anyway, hope other HP fans are excited. I AM looking forward to it so much (despite forgetting just then). Can I boast I once met JK Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Fest about 6/7 years ago. She was LOVELY.

Oooooh, off to bed now and let 11:01 come that bit quicker!

Editing...

... so I've been slaving over Rhys for nigh on 3 hours tonight... and my word count? Up by 300 words. In almost 3 hours??!!
But they're better words darnit, better!

Okay...

I know. I'm very boring at the moment. This is because there is very little 'give' in my life at the moment and when I am not parenting I am writing and at the end of that I have very little left to spend on this blog - so apologies.
Its the last weekend of the holidays and term is back on Monday and so the 'big kids' are back at kindy which is great for them. She's in the am and he's in the pm so it means the time they have together they play like long lost friends - all happy and caring and sharing (if they're together 24/7 cracks start to appear!).
Meanwhile,I've done as much of the rough as I'm going to on Rhys - the last chapter is not really written but I am overcome with the urge to go back and FIX THE REST OF IT - then I can finish that last bit. The fixing takes me ages - I have this mass of words that needs shaping and tweaking and pushing and pulling and I would so love a few solid days on it but I have to do it in chunks in the evening - hard becuase this is the point where I really want to get lost deep inside the story and not emerge until I have it right (or as right as I can get it without editorial help). Anyway, I've had a couple of days away from it and done the proposal for the next one which I'll email to Mme Ed on Monday. That way she can (hopefully) green light it while I finish Rhys meaning when I send Rhys away I can get cracking on the next and keep my mind off the wait on Rhys. If that all makes perfect sense?
It does to me anyway.
The best news of the weekend is I won one of Donna's books! YAY!!! This is what I love about blogs- the opp to win, win, win!!!!
Jeez, can't wait for it to arrive - I havne't done much reading recently (damn time constraints again) and I'm so looking forward to getting stuck in. Might have to be my 'finsh-Rhys-reward'!!!!

Ummm...

its the holidays here meaning no kindy for the 3 and 4 year olds. Meaning 24/7 entertainment required - and the entertainer du jour?? = Moi.

As well as finish a draft???!!!

4 year old is in swim school and consequently KNACKERED by the end of the day (possibly even more than me which is saying something). (Swim shcool is a 25 min class just after 9am btw - still knackers her completely).
And the twinbos have finally realised there is a whole big world to explore...

Meanwhile Rhys has made it to South America and I'm trying to sort out his final few issues. Then it can be happy ever after - thank goodness!!!
BUT then, oh then, I'll read it through, panic, get out the red pen and start scribbling... the exact point at which I start wishing for uninterrupted 8 (make that 12) hour days...

AS IF THAT'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN.

Still, they're cute. And who needs sleep anyway??!!

Book three...

I'm thrilled to announce my third book is to be titled "Mistress Under Contract" and will be out in February 2008 in the UK!!!

Boring...

... I'm sorry I have nothing to say. I'm v tired. I am working hard to get the 'discovery draft' knocked out. Nothing much else to report.
When I'm not so tired I'll try to think of something witty...