A vist from Elizabeth Seckman - Fate Intended Blog Tour

I'm really pleased to have the lovely Elizabeth Seckman on my blog today because she is simply one of those fellow writers it's a pleasure to know. I probably don't really need to introduce her as so many of you already know her. I'm totally in love with the cover for her newest book, Fate Intended, and it's definitely going on my 'to read' stack!  

Over to you, Elizabeth!

Okay Linda, you asked for a surprise; I promised you something sexy.

Whoop! Well, it is nearly my birthday, after all!


Here's a little somethin' for the ladies:



And a little somethin' for the gents...




Miss you Linda! Hope you enjoyed your sexiness ;)

Man, that sexiness was something else! ;-) Thanks for that, Elizabeth! Come back to visit again soon :-)

Fate Intended is the third book in the Coulter Men Series.  Trip is the last of the Coulter sons to find love. He’s a handsome man with all the skills a young spy needs to succeed. But when it comes to love, he misses the target. Jane is a sweet beauty who may or may not be wanted for murder. She’s hiding out as a cleaning lady when chance brings her and Trip together. It looks like a happily ever after is in the cross hairs until reality tries to destroy what fate has intended.

Elizabeth Seckman is a simple chick with a simple dream…to write stories people want to read.

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IWSG February

I'm looking forward to hopping around and finding out how everyone's feeling now that we've got through January and the New Year's Resolutions are in full swing (or not!)

I was feeling distinctly insecure in January... I was working on a project I wasn't feeling the love for but felt I had to continue with, and was also finding it very hard to find enough time to write. The situation is now resolved and I'm working on something else instead when I have the time.

TIME! The greatest bug-bear of all! I have decided that in February - and in the rest of 2014 - it will not be my enemy. I am going to write when I can... and if I simply can't for a few days, so be it. I've read so much about 'write every day, no matter what it is,' that I was developing a bit of a paranoia about my skills slipping away if I didn't.

I can't, though. End of.

Trying makes me feel stressed and ill.

So, I'm going to chill!

Cat Chilled Out www.orangedonkey.net

One day, I'll have more time on my hands. Until then I'll do what I can.

So - how are you feeling?

Thanks for visiting - and as always thanks to Alex for starting it all off. You can find all the participants here on his blog.

Oh, and while I'm here... I'd like to introduce you to my husband who has just started his blog. He's a sort of 'urban poet', I think! You can find his first ever post here - please go and say 'hi'!

IWSG January

It's the first IWSG of the New Year! Happy 2014 to anyone I haven't visited yet this year!

Thanks as always to Alex J. Cavanaugh and to all the other administrators of the group.

This month is a time of New Year's Resolutions and positivity - a time to turn over a fresh page and enter a new mind-set. In this vein, I'm hoping to feel a little less insecure this year. I've done a lot of thinking and have had a long break from writing (which did me a lot of good) and have managed to feel a lot less 'keyed up' about writing. There is no pleasure in it for me when it becomes a compulsion - and I do not want to lose that pleasure! A schedule in my diary, an old kitchen timer to write to and a fresh approach are how I'm starting this new year.

Good luck to everyone with what they want to achieve - and if I can offer you one piece of advice, it is this: write the way that suits you, in the amount of time that suits you, and try not to resent other areas of your life for infringing on your writing time. I used to obsess about word-count each day - now I am content if I have moved my story on, whether that be by adding 1000 or 200 words. Moving forwards is the key, however small the steps.

Wishing you all a Happy Writing New Year.

Thank you for visiting!

Just for Fun... New Year's Haiku

Happy New Year! I hope 2014 brings you all everything you need or wish for :-).

In the interests of stretching my creativity, I have decided to include some haiku in my blog every month in 2014. Call it a New Year's Resolution!

Now, I know there are some rules around haiku, but from what I've read it seems that they aren't set in stone.  I understand the lines should flow into one another without stops and starts, although I have read many where this isn't the case. I hope you will forgive me any glaring errors in the form and it would be fabulous if you would like to contribute some haiku yourself in the comment box.

Yesterday, the last day of 2013, my husband and I took advantage of an hour or so's break in the persistent rain we have endured throughout the Christmas period and escaped to the countryside for some air.

Today's experiment is an offering of 5 haiku, inspired by yesterday's walk. (The photos were not taken yesterday, but on a December walk in the same place a couple of years ago.) Thanks for being here and for reading!

A Walk in the Country

Chilled beyond the bone,
bright cheeks, frozen toes and ears,
crisp grass underfoot.

A church spire, lonely,
spied across a furrowed field,
dark clods stiff with frost.

A soup of wet mud,
boots slipping in the scramble
to claim grassy verge.

Determined boxer,
face screwed, eyes wild with delight,
escapes to greet us.

Hot breath on cold air,
pub fire, conversations hum.
Refresh, refuel, thaw.

(The pictures are taken between Dedham and Flatford, the home of John Constable the artist and subject of many of his paintings.)

Insecure Writer's Support Group going Large!

If you are not a member of the Insecure Writer's Support Group then you really should pop over there and see what it's all about!

In a nutshell, a group of us blog on the first Wednesday of every month about... well, anything to do with writing and either feeling insecure or having smashed our insecurities that month! You are just as likely to find upbeat posts as posts looking for some friendly encouragement.

This month there's a contest with some really great prizes, details of which you can find here, all in the name of spreading awareness of the IWSG.  Personally, I've met some really nice people through the IWSG and I'm delighted to have discovered that there is now a Facebook page too. If you're a writer, you'll know that connecting with other writers is invaluable - and I think we all have our insecurities at times! So what are you waiting for? If you're not already in the group, come and commiserate or celebrate with other writers. I am positive you won't regret it!

Lexa and Julie's Dream Destination Blog Hop

I'd normally be taking part in the Insecure Writer's Support Group over at Alex J.Cavanaugh's blog but I'm giving my usual incessant whingeing a miss this month in favour of letting my thoughts meander to a less-stressful, non-writing place (which pretty much tells you how I'm feeling about fitting writing into my life just now!)

Lexa Cain and Julie Flanders are hosting this Blog Hop, so please hop over to their blogs to say "Hello" and to take part in the free Rafflecopter Giveaway! There are around 20 prizes up for grabs!

And now... a dream destination. Hmn... I'm really torn between somewhere hot and somewhere deliciously cold and snowy. I've always found the thought of a log cabin with a roaring fire, fur (but not real fur - yuk!) rugs to recline on and snow drifting down on pine trees outside the window very appealing. I'm a bit of a sucker for Wham's 'Last Christmas' video too!

So... maybe this would be my Dream Destination:

(Hotel Kakslauttennan, Lapland/Finland border)

Or this: 

... although I must admit it's not exactly a cabin! Holiday Inn is one of my favourite films, though - and it gave us that wonderful early rendition of 'White Christmas'. 

Well, now I'm feeling all cosy and quite Christmassy, I'm off to Julie's or Lexa's blog to take a look at everyone else's Dream Destination. I'd love you to come with me! 

  

Losing my nerve! IWSG November.

Yes, it's November already! Thanks as always to Alex J Cavanaugh for running the group. You can find a list of the participants and information on what it's all about over on Alex's blog.

I was determined not to whinge this month, but I can feel a bit of a whinge coming on. The title of this post is pretty whingey, for one thing!

I had the summer off writing as I had a full schedule and was feeling pretty stressed. My brain didn't stop working and I didn't stop making notes, but I did barely any structured writing. Actually, it was lovely just being 'normal' again (e.g. watching TV, seeing friends, reading, going out with family, etc.)

THE TROUBLE IS... now I want to write again (and have had an idea for a serial provisionally OK'd by a magazine) I seem to have forgotten how to sit down and concentrate. I deliberately subbed the idea knowing that it would force me back to the keyboard, but my reaction to getting the go-ahead to write the first part was as much terror as joy! It's been hanging round my neck and terrifying me for over a week. I started it and don't like what I've written and my cotton-wooly brain won't co-operate with coming up with alternatives. I still don't feel as though I've got enough time (or understanding support in the home, tbh) to write it.

I WILL write it - so watch this space - but something tells me it's going to be a long and painful process!

Does anyone else feel unsupported at times? I get a lot of "Wow, that's great," and "How much are you getting for it?" when something's accepted, but when it comes down to being allowed uninterrupted time to get words on the page, I may as well forget it unless I'm alone in the house, which I rarely am.

Whinge over. Feeling better already!

Going to write now!