The Great Race

I was invited to guest blog over at the RWA NaNoWriMo site. It's about running your own race, your own way and achieving your personal best.

If you can, please drop by and let me know what you think.

Remembering a time

I have a fascination with 11:11 whenever I see it on a digital clock. It’s amazing how many times I will look at the time for no real reason and there it is – 11:11.
I’m not sure when it started or why. Since I am a believer in old souls and new lives, I tend to think something significant must have happened in a former life (or if you are a Flash Forward fan at present, maybe something will happen at 11:11 in the future).
I must be thinking about this now because it’s 11/11/09 - a time to remember.
Speaking of remembering a time, I am trying to remember the time reference in relation to the dandelion – not the yellow flower, but the fairy wand, the gossamer ball stage of the plant. As kids, didn’t we used to blow on it to tell us the time or something????
Anyway, in my current novel (in my fictional town of Calingarry Crossing) I am thinking of having the characters refer to the old estate as the Dandelion House. (The old lady who once lived there made herbal treatments and dandelion tea.) Up until now I have called it Magpie House, but I fear that name sits cringe-worthy alongside crikey, g’day and where the bloody hell are you.)
While to many the dandelion is a pain in the **** weed, I remember a yellow hill of flowers when I was young (on my uncles farm in Bute, SA). It looked amazing, especially when the flower heads did a little Mexican wave in the breeze. I also think maybe the time reference (whatever it was) might fit with my story.
If anyone remembers how it worked, pls let me know.

I confess...

Yes...the race that stops the nation (Australia's Melbourne Cup)stopped this 2009 NANO participant from writing for a short time today.
Shocking - I know! (and 'Shocking' I backed. What a horse! What a jockey!)

My excuse for not writing while the race was on was, or course, research.
With my NANO novel having an Australian country town setting (thanks Bronwyn Parry for the inspiration) I figured, why not include Melbourne Cup race day fun - country town style. So I did.

Now it's back to my own race - 50,000 words by 30 November.

Got it covered!

There are plotters, pansters and then there are those of us who have to start with a little cover inspiration. (Yes we aren't satisfied with writing a best seller, we have to design the cover LOL)

This is my latest concept--A House For All Seasons--currently making its way from my head to the computer. Do you like it?

I am taking part in the November writing challenge - 50,000 words down in 30 days.
My ms is four stories wrapped in one BIG over-arching story about - you guessed it - four women, four seasons, four chances to start again.

Will Vivaldi get a look in?? What do you think!!!

What do I write?

A few posts ago I was stressing out about writing platforms.

Well, my 'platform' has been staring me in the face forever. It wasn't until I was mid-way through explaining my stories to a non-writing friend that I saw it. Well, actually it hit me square between the eyes. (You know those writing moments we all have - the one where everything stops and your face almost explodes from the excitement. At least my friends no longer think I’m having a terrible reaction to something I ate. They know it’s just another writer’s moment and the only treatment is to get me a pen and paper.)

Now I can tell publishers and agents what readers can expect from Jenn J McLeod.

Readers can expect stories about life, love and second chances – thought provoking pieces that blend traditional romance with fresh ideas and compelling twists. They are contemporary stories set in captivating locations and spiced with humour, intrigue and all the heart-warming highs and labyrinthine lows to make you want to laugh, cry and embrace a second chance.

Will having this 'platfrom' help me sell????? I don't know.
Was stressing over writing platforms worth it? Definitely.
It has helped me in a most surprising way, tightened my plots, enhanced my GMC charts, sprouted new concepts and storylines (I also love the way it ties in with my life and bio).
I'm excited!

Who am I?

The Author bio - it's been harder to compose than the 90k manuscript I just finished.

The submission process demands a biography. Information such as: Who am I? What have I done? What am I doing now? What have I published? What have I won? etc, etc, etc.
The problem is...well...what if I'm not published yet? What if I've come really close to finalling in a competition, but not close enough to count? What if my career has not allowed me to express myself creatively (unless you call political speeches and press releases creative writing LOL)
So, who does that make me? Who am I?

I mulled and stressed and in the end decided to write what I'd like to see on the inside back cover of my first published novel.
Here we go:

About me
If we’re lucky, life will sometimes throw a second chance our way.
Some of us see it.
Some of us don’t.
Some shy away from it.
I like to think I grab hold and make it count.

My life has been filled with second chances – opportunities to start again, try something different, take a new and exciting path. After school I climbed the corporate ladder and studied part-time. Towards the end of an exhausting range of work experiences I decided it was time for a change – a sea change. I now write full time and run a dog-friendly bed and breakfast on the mid north coast of NSW (Australia) where my mutts – Strawberry and Daiquiri – are my muse.
I write stories about life, love and second chances, blending elements of traditional romance with fresh ideas and compelling twists. They are contemporary stories spiced with humour and intrigue and all the heart-warming highs and labyrinthine lows to make you want to laugh, cry and embrace a second chance.

That's me - author in waiting.
I am jennjmcleod
Romancing the possibilities ... in life, love and second chances

Want to know a secret?

I'm a lucky girl! I won a copy of Erin Grace's 'Secrets'. Only just released too. I'm very excited. I have one more reason to get my own darn manuscript finished once and for all so I can get into this one. I just know it will be a great read.

Everyone has secrets. Some can be ruinous.
When Isabelle Barclay is left widowed at the age of twenty-five, she discovers how precarious life can be for a woman alone in the 1850s. She’s surrounded by sycophantic friends who fear her, and treacherous men determined to have her. She escapes to the wilds of the beautiful Scottish Highlands, rescued by an unlikely ally with her own hidden past.
She didn’t expect to find a revenge plot, a treasured friendship, or a powerful attraction to a Scottish laird determined never to love. A stormy affair and a midnight duel threaten to change Isabella’s life forever

Available through…

www.lyricalpress.com

Or visit Erin Grace's website