Shelley Munro Blog

Today I’m guest blogging over at Cerridwen Press. Check out my post here

The last few days have passed in a storm of writing. I’ve completed my edits for Assassin, written a blurb and sent both back to my editor. I’ve also sent off my Jewel of the Nile story to my editor and started another. It’s so great when the stars align and the writing goes well.

I used to love reading historicals but went off them a couple of years ago, tired of the constant Regency settings. To me all the books seemed the same. This year I’ve picked up the odd one and enjoyed them. Lisa Kleypas used to be one of my favorites and yesterday I finished reading Mine Till Midnight. I really enjoyed the characters. The heroine Amelia Hathaway manages her brother and three younger sisters, always rescuing them from problems. One sister steals silver and other things, which creates problems, one sister is very weak after surviving scarlet fever and the brother, who has inherited a title is busy spending every penny. He’s heartbroken because his fiancee died from scarlet fever.

The hero, Cam Rohan is part Gypsy and lives on the outskirts of society. He suffers from a dreadful curse, that of being able to make money without effort. (I wish that curse would rub off on me!) The hero is strong, determined and tries to stay away from Amelia but her family difficulties keep brining them together.

It’s a great story where two people defy conventions and fall in love. I’m eagerly looking forward to Lisa Kleypas’ next book.

Yesterday I spent the day kayaking with a women’s adventure group. It was my first outing with the group and although I didn’t know anyone, I had a blast. Everyone was very friendly. We traveled over the harbor bridge to Wenderholm regional park, which is north of Auckland and kayaked up the Puhoi river. It was fun, and I didn’t fall in or topple the kayak, which was a plus!

The weather wasn’t the best but I figure it didn’t really matter since I managed to get wet just paddling. Today my shoulders are a bit sore, although not as bad as I thought they’d be. No photos since I didn’t trust myself with the camera near water.

My edits for Assassin arrived yesterday while I was galavanting around so that’s my mission for today. After the last couple of action-packed days it’s actually a relief to sit still.

How was your week? Do you have any special plans for the weekend?

1. Scored free car parking. Left our umbrellas and coats in the car since there wasn’t a rain cloud in sight. Woohoo! A great start to the day.

2. Checked out all the scarecrows designed by local school children.

3. Visited the palm garden. It was amazing since they’d planted dozens of fully grown palm trees in their temporary garden.

4. Walked through the Floral display tent. The floral artists are really talented and would most likely cringe if they saw the way I jam flowers into vases.

5. Had a free cup of tea - Chai tea. Delicious and my favorite since first drinking it in India.

6. Watched some Thai ladies making butterflies out of flowers and carving flowers out of vegetables. Amazing.

7. Ambled through the dark nocturnal gardens with their pretty lights and water features. I can walk, talk and snap photos all at once. Why can’t everyone else???? Quite a few traffic jams in this exhibition.

8. Talked to a man about gutter stop - mesh stuff to stop leaves from blocking the guttering. My sister reckons it’s worth the cost since she hates climbing onto the roof to clean the gutters every few months. The photo below is nothing to do with gutters but I liked the cacti so decided to put it here :)

9. A lady from Visique cleaned my sunglasses for me and gave me a free polishing cloth. Score!

10. Purchased a garden stake in the shape of a kiwi. My sister purchased a cat one.

11. A lady cleaned one shoe for me with this special polish stuff. I asked her very nicely to clean the other since I looked like something out of a before and after commercial. My sister purchased some of this stuff since it works on leather furniture and saddles as well as my shoes.

12. Ate lots of free samples in lieu of lunch. Toasted seeds, biscuits, chocolate, yoghurt, fruit juice, pesto to name a few. Tried out testers of hand lotions. The tomato one was quite nice. Purchased some lavender soap since I love the smell. My wardrobe will smell beautiful.

13. Lots of elderly people pushed me around but I refrained from pushing back even though I was armed with garden stakes. My sister and I decided we’d looked enough and left the garden show. Hitched a ride back to the carpark in a golf cart. My sister and the driver discussed banking. After a quiet coffee in the Botanic Garden cafe (the flower show ones were packed) we went home. I’m currently resting with a glass of wine and mentally preparing for my day of kayaking tomorrow.

I visit Murder She Wrote, a blog written by several mystery/romance writers when I remember. I wish they’d set up a RSS feed so I could receive a visual reminder of a new post because they have some interesting stuff. Natalie R. Collins’s post today is full of advice from published writers about writing and the business. I found it really useful even though I’m published. Definitely check it out if you have a minute.

I’m quietly pleased with my writing progress this week. I’ve written 2000 words each day on my next Middlemarch story plus I’m polishing another story. I just need to do a little more tweaking and give this story another read through and then it’s off to my editor.

Tomorrow will be a quiet day on the writing front because I’m heading off to the Ellerslie Flower show with my sister. This is an annual event held every November and it always rains. You can bet on it. Today we’ve had strong winds and torrential rain but luckily the forecast is for better stuff tomorrow. I’m not confident enough to leave my umbrella at home.

I’ve been hiding in the writing cave today working on the next Middlemarch story. Some days the words come really slowly. It was one of those days. While I get back to my writing, attempting to make my day’s target, I’ll leave you with this quiz. What type of writer should you be?

You Should Be a Film Writer

You don’t just create compelling stories, you see them as clearly as a movie in your mind. You have a knack for details and dialogue. You can really make a character come to life. Chances are, you enjoy creating all types of stories. The joy is in the storytelling. And nothing would please you more than millions of people seeing your story on the big screen!

I’ve received a new cover for my first Cerridwen Press release, Playing to Win. The wonderful Frauke from Croco Designs designed the cover. In the background there’s a rugby field and a goal post since my hero is a professional rugby player. Playing to Win releases on 17 Jan 2008.

Hubby is away playing in a golf tournament for the Returned Services Association. He rang up all excited this morning to tell me he’d scored a hole in one. It’s every golfers dream to do this but there’s a story attached. He couldn’t see where he’d hit his ball and he thought one of the players in front had stolen his ball. It turned out he was wrong so he was grumpily heading back to the tee to take another shot with a new ball when he decided to look in the hole. That’s where he found his ball. So he’s scored a hole in one but didn’t see it happen. The golf club are bronzing the ball for him. I think he rang most of the family from the golf course to let them know his exciting news.

Woohoo! I received a contract in my inbox this morning from my Ellora’s Cave editor for the fourth Middlemarch book. My complaining about all the waiting must have worked. Assassin will be out sometime in 2008. Now I need to write a blurb, but I’m thinking I might have a celebratory drink first!

I finished the first draft of the Jewel of the Nile Quickie I’ve been writing. I’m going to let it sit until next week before I do edits, rewrites and polishing, leaving myself plenty of time before deadline.

No Thursday Thirteen for me today. I want to work on the next Middlemarch book and also have an idea for another Jewel Quickie.

Happy writing to everyone, especially if you’re doing the NaNo challenge.

If anyone had told me a few years ago that being an author consisted of lots of waiting for things to happen followed by mad scrambles to do edits or meet contract and then more waiting, I would have laughed. I actually thought that once I scrambled over the fence separating aspiring writers from published the waiting would end. Silly me.

Where’s this leading you ask? I’m currently in waiting mode, barely hanging on to sanity and what’s left of my patience. Yes, there are several irons in the fire, manuscripts at various places and with various people. I have three different manuscripts out at the moment. I’m working on a new manuscript and have almost finished the first draft. I’m writing but the waiting is grinding me down. Is anyone else out there waiting? Please tell me I’m not waiting alone!

I’m guest blogger over at The Romance Studio today. Come over and say hello, post a comment and go into the draw to win a download of Unforgettable.

I’ve been tagged by both Rhian and Wylie to do this meme about my hometown of Auckland.

Best place to eat:

This is such a hard question since my favorite place to eat depends on my mood and my wallet. Hubby and I both enjoy the Belgium Beer Cafe at Mission Bay. It overlooks Mission Beach and is beautiful during the summer when the pohutukawa trees are in full bloom. They specialize in huge pots of mussels done in various ways, which hubby loves. I usually go for the vegetarian option. We both love their beer. My favorite is the raspberry beer - the Framboise.

Best Shopping Mall

I love to shop at Botany Town Center in all weathers, although they don’t have a decent book shop. Actually that’s probably a good thing. Hubby and I buy our groceries here and usually have a coffee and people watch first. It’s quieter when it rains because it’s not all under cover but a little water never worries me. They have an English style pub here along with my favorite clothes store.

Famous Landmark

For me it would have to be Rangitoto Island. The perfect cone of the dormant volcano is visible from most parts of Auckland. It’s the youngest in Auckland’s field of volcanoes. A ferry trip to the island and climbing to the top to eat a picnic lunch is a fun day trip and a good way to tire out the kids.

Best Tourist Attraction

We have a lot of rain in Auckland so how about the Auckland Museum for a rainy day. Soak up the maori culture, check out the carvings and artwork, the sculpture.

Place for Kids

Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic and Underwater World. It’s fun for big kids as well. Check out the sharks and huge stingrays along with the Antarctic Encounter.

Popular Outdoor Activity

It’s got to be the beaches - from the Auckland harbor to the wild West Coast beaches. Take a ferry ride out on the harbor, go yachting or take an afternoon coffee cruise, visit the outer islands or go for a swim. Try surfing. Go fishing. If you’re into water sports we’ve got it all.

Breathtaking Views

For anyone wanting a view of Auckland and the harbor I’d send them to the top of Mount Eden. From here you can see most of the harbor and outlying gulf as well as the other dormant volcanoes and the city. Best of all it’s free.

Only Found in Auckland

The Auckland Sky Tower. Climb to the top in a super fast lift for the views and bungee back down. The tower is also in the photo above.

I’m meant to pick others and tag them now. I choose Christina and Gabriele.