The Long Over Due Post

I have been, dear readers, sitting on this very post for two days. I'm not even kidding.

Things just keep coming up, I get distracted, it gets pushed back further and further until whoops, there goes another day and no new post.

This is a major problem, I know.

So, I am going to simply publish what I have NOW so I can't possibly get distracted again.

Hello all!

I connected my mouse to my laptop about ten minutes ago, and it's so weird to have a mouse. I've been using the pad for... well, since I've had my laptop. But it's really hard to use the pad in the heat cuz it gets stuck and its hard to move when everything is hot and humid. Does anyone else have that problem? Or am I just weird... Probably that one :P

I also seem to re-call the last time I attempted to use the mouse it didn't work, so that's another reason as to why I haven't used it for ages.

Today I worked at Tafe Marketing; we had a 100 kid school group come in for a talk/tour/concert.

Some second year music students put on a mini show and it was AWESOME. They covered Maroon 5, The Living End and that You Make Me Crazy song, and it was AWESOME.

***** Well, that was all written yesterday and for some crazy reason - which I will blame on midnight runs to the hotel down my street - it didn't get finished/posted.

So I'm going to do it now!

And today was at The Gift Shop.

The most hilarious thing about The Gift Shop is my boss. She's not from Australia, and thus her English is broken, and she is forever telling me to "use my creative". In those exact words. It's so hilarious for a number of reasons, but most of all because I. Am. Not. Creative.

I'm not even kidding. I remember in primary school we were making posters on an Olympian. I did Dawn French. And I used white paper, blank plain fonts, and handed it in.

Actually, we did an assignment in class the other day which will explain my point perfectly. Let me go and take a photo of it, upload it to my laptop, and then upload it to blogger to prove my point *runs away to photograph said poster*

Basically, it's a visual diagram of our novels. So, the pictures of the blonde girl is one of my main characters, Penny, the blue-ish photo is another main character, the railings of the house is the house where they both live, and the three arms is potential cover art. There is a timeline, a floor plan of the house and general descriptions.

But, see how it's white? And all blank font/pen. It's really plain. I mean I got a really good mark - so I guess it's still good quality - but I'm not creative. And when my boss asks me to use "my creative" I just want to laugh.

Tomorrow, hopefully I am going to see this:

That is, of course, dependant on the session times. Which at the moment aren't looking so good, but we can hope!

The same friend who I'm seeing that with, I was with last night at the hotel (in the bar, people, not in a room!) and we were talking about books and she asked me how I treat library books. I said I have no problem dog-earing the pages if I don't have a book mark around, and she gasped and said (and I'm paraphrasing here because I can't specifically remember!) "But it's respecting all the pages of all the books!"

And that quote, dear readers, does no justice to what she actually said. It was hilarious and funny and clever and epic.

But the point remained that it was all about respecting books, no matter who owns them.

This post has been sitting in my computer for hours because I keep getting distracted. ARGH!

To end, everyone should head over to THE INTERN, who has her usual pearls of wisdom, this time about making sure the moment of glory for your character doesn't happen without warning.

I am off to get ready for the movie. Have a great night!

Class + Tutoring + Glee + Writing + Word Count!

Good afternoon all!

I am blogging from the depths of my Novel classroom at the moment.

Well, I’m writing this in a Word document, but as soon as I get connected to the net I shall post it in Blogger.

This is the second last class *gulp* and today we’re working on whatever we want, so most of us has brought our laptops in to work.

Well, apart from the girls next to me, who are watching Supernatural :P

I am listening to Glee and working on my novel.

And, just then, I’ve realized a major problem.

I have one of my main characters disappears, one moves back home and my other, my protag, simply does… nothing. Which is a problem. She needs to do something, go somewhere.

And I only realized now. First idea was to make her move back home, but I realized I couldn’t do that cuz one of the very first things that happens in another section is her mother calls her and begs to her to come home.

So that’s out.

She can’t stay where the three of them were living either, cuz in that section when her mother calls, she moves back into that same house, but with new housemates.

So – any ideas anyone?! At the moment I’m just going to ignore it and work around it. Cuz I have to get 5000 words in by this time next week, and I don’t have time to piss around coming up with a solution.

In other news, I’ve started reading Mao’s Last Dancer, which is my book club book. Surprisingly to everyone, and mostly me, I’m actually really enjoying it and can’t put it down.

I had my new girl for tutoring yesterday, grade two. She’s pretty cute and did whatever I asked; it was clear she’d been through this routine of tutoring before (which she had; her mother said she’d been carted from agency to agency because none of them worked). But the mother was ecstatic with me and my work, which is awesome! She said she was really impressed with the quality and quantity of work we did, which I showed her afterwards.

I was actually really impressed with her daughter, to be honest. I was half expecting her to be a lot worst – which is how she was described! – but I was pleasantly surprised. We worked on some descriptive exercises, and she was really descriptive.

She apparently struggles with creative writing, so I broke down a story for her, into two main elements: plot and characters.

We focused on character yesterday, so next week we’ll do plot.

Tonight we have our school readings, which is kinda like an open mic night where we get together in a hall and read our work. Tonight, another student and I have written some special haikus for the event – since it’s our last.

I promise I’ll post them on here tomorrow; in the mean time I don’t want anyone from school seeing them and ruining the surprise :P

Which it will be. A surprise that is. It shall be awesome and wonderful and completely unexpected :P

Well, for the time being, I’d better get back to my novel.

Wish me luck!

Well, novel is moving along. Not fast, but steadily.

If I were to be honest, my novel, at the moment, seems a foreign beast. I haven’t worked on it for ages (yes, I know, stop looking at me like that) and I feel out of sync with it.

I probably should have done NaNoWriMo, and got my butt into gear.

Maybe I can start a new NaNoWriMo? Maybe NaNoWriMoDec?! Anyone want to join me?!

I’ve been meaning for ages to get my butt into gear. Like a proper gear. 1000 words a day or something. Make some real progress.

I was talking to a friend about Steph the other day (nothing bad, love!) and saying how excited I was that she got an agent, and what an achievement at such a young age. My friend then asked me – why don’t I have an agent? I laughed and told her, “Because you need to write a novel, silly! And I haven’t written one.”

So, a goal before school starts up next year – get some words on the page! What is a realistic goal?

So I’ve got about two months – December and January. That’s sixty-two days. If I write 1000 words a day, that’s almost an entire novel – 62,000. However, I have to be realistic. I’m going to Sydney for a week, so that’s seven days out. December is always crazy with extended work hours, Christmas, New Years.

January – apart from Sydney – should be fairly laid-back, and hopefully I’ll be able to churn some words out then.

Maybe I should aim for 500 words a day? 700?

Whatever I do, I need to make some headway on this thing, that’s for sure.


Anyway, I just got home and am posting this in Blogger as I type.

I'm heading off to a shopping centre to pick up a present, so I must be off.

Have a great afternoon!

MASSIVE NEWS + Rants + Work Politics + Writing Tips + Money + A Whole Bunch Of Ranting! Yay!

STOP THE PRESSES!!!! BIG NEWS!!!

I have TOTALLY JUST FOUND Kate Schafer Testerman's PERSONAL BLOG. Eg not the Ask Daphne one.

And I did it by NOT stalking her.

YAY for everything!!!

Okay, so, first let me tell you e'old'e story, and then the link!

So, I was reading Doyce Testerman's blog, as I often do, and, as I said the other day, he is Kate's husband.

And he made some claims (!) on his blog about doing the dishes at home and such, and I thought, being a typical male, that perhaps he was all talk and no action :P So I left a comment asking if he had actually done the dishes. As a joke, see.

And he wrote back saying yes he had, and then Kate wrote back confirming that very point too.

And instead of her comment being linked to Daphne, it was linked to something called "KTBuffy". Hmmm, I thought, This is weird. Especially since this person is claiming to be Kate, Doyce's husband. I'd better check it out.

And so I did, and I was greeted with a bunch of shoes (very Kate) and an explanation saying it was a non-publishing private blog of Kate's about "these posts have been a repository of my interests, from travel, music, books, shopping, photography, pop culture, and a million other things".

And so, following Kate's private blog has begun!

Hoorah!

Do I feel vaguely like a stalker? A little bit.

But hey. It's not as if it's a private private website or anything! :P

What I wanted to talk about today is something that has been bugging me for about a week or so, and while it's not directly related to publishing, it's interesting, and I know people will have a variety of opinions.

A few weeks ago - actually, it may have only been two weeks ago, but whatever - I was in another suburb before work - at The Gift Shop - and when I got to the station to go to work, it was running late.

As per usual, I should say. But nonetheless, it was running late, and I started to freak out, cuz I was about to be late for work.

So I called my parents house, and managed to convince my sister - God bless her! - to come and get me and take me to work.

She's only just got her licence, and hasn't driven where I was much.

I called work and explained to a co-worker - as the boss was serving someone - the situation and said I'd be there ASAP.

My sister finally arrived - proud of herself for finding me! - and I got to work half an hour late. I assured my sister it was fine and it wasn't her fault - which it wasn't - but I still felt awful for being late, and didn't want to get into trouble!

I ran into work full of apologise, but no-one wanted to hear it: "It's fine, it's life, things happen, trains are late. Doesn't matter, who cares, you're here now!"

Today at Marketing, I was helping with this mail-out, and when we tallied everything up, we were sort approx 35 labels. A massive man-hunt that took hours ensured, trying to find the missing ones.

Finally, finally, we went through this list and realized that five were infact missing, but, because I am an IDIOT I mis-counted one of the piles of envelopes. I had them in piles of twenty, and I counted 330 instead of 360 (I retain: I'm an English person! Not Maths! Hahaha but I know it was simple counting :( ).

All those hours, thinking we'd lost 35, when it was only 5.

I felt TERRIBLE and couldn't stop apologising.

The woman who was co-ordinating the mail-out laughed and laughed and said her dad always said, "Measure twice, cut once" (he was a carpenter).

She kept telling me what an awesome job I'd done today, I made such head-aways etc.

And she did not care one bit that I messed the counting up.

I've been thinking about these two events, and relating them back to other, previous jobs, where if you were five seconds late you'd get blasted. A mistake like the counting - which cost hours - would have probably resulted in a verbal warning. Or at the very least a stern talking to.

I couldn't believe these two jobs, Marketing and The Gift Shop, didn't care. "It's life" they said, "You make mistakes, trains are late, shit happens".

And how true is that! But I've mostly been in situations where you get blasted.

And you know what? I went home tonight feeling shit cuz I'd majorly stuffed the counting up, but I didn't feel as bad as I'd feel had I been told off. And now, when I work at Marketing again on Thursday, I'm not going to turn up with dread that everyone hates me.

Because it's life. People stuff up.

Anyway, that's my little rant about being told off. I'll stop now :P

Speaking of Doyce, he has a fantastic post on the Rules of Three. The post is so informative and I urge everyone to head over there and read it!

The Rules of Three are:

-Only three facts in any description. This is another Zelazny tip that I find wonderfully straight-forward to implement. When you’re describing something (a person, a thing, a place, whatever), you only get to mention three facts. The reasoning is that the reader is only going to remember three facts anyway, so you’re better off dictating what those three things are rather than letting them cherry-pick from a two-page description of your protag’s love interest (pro-tip: I don’t give a fuck about the brand of their clothes). You can cheat and add extra bits as the story progresses.
-Only three uses of the same joke. Seriously, it’s not funny after that.
-Only three uses of the same anything. Be it a particular application of a superpower, vampire hypnosis, a dance move… whatever. Three.
-Only three adverbs per story. Might as well put a hard limit on the little fuckers.
-Only three exclamations points per story. Actually, “one per 50,000 words” is better, but you can have more in your first draft. EVERY SINGLE ONE must be in dialog, though. Don’t make me get the hose.
-Only three ellipses per story. That might be harsh. Maybe Three-per-25k words, but you can’t end ANY PARAGRAPH with them.
-Only three ‘nods’ per… chapter? You (and by that, I mean ‘I’) should do even better than that, but it’s a first draft.
-Only three ’shrugs’ per… aww, hell. Just try to control it.

Isn't that genius? TAKE NOTE, EVERYONE!

You should also head on over to Steph's blog, where today, is it not her words that are brilliant - although they often (okay, all the time!) are, but her pictures. She has complied a mini-list of the photos that are about her new NaNoWriMo novel. The pictures are fantastic, pure and simple. As as one of the commenters said, if her novel is half as good as the pictures...!

I particularly like this picture, because it ties in with me letting go and over thinking things!!!

Congrats to Lili Wilkinson who has clocked up over 27,000 NaNoWriMo words! Hoorah!

Lisa and Laura talk about growing up. When I was little, I wanted to be the following - and in this order: a nurse (no idea why, I'm AWFUL with needles!) & a marine biologist (let's not remember the fact that I basically failed biology).

In between, various and random careers surfaced, but those are the main two.

But, despite all that, I've always wanted to write. Which I have.

I always told people that owning my own bookstore was my 'proper' career, as you can't make money from writing.

I do want to do both things, but for the mean time, I am focusing on my writing.

Speaking of money and writing, we were talking in class the other day, and although I can't remember the specific topic, money and writing came up, and almost everyone in the class said that they wanted to make money out of their writing.

Am I the only person in the entire world that doesn't care if she/he doesn't make money from writing?!

I mean sure, it'd be nice, but it's not the end-all. I'll still write.

You can still sell a novel, and be poor, and make more money. What happens if it doesn't make over the advance?

I didn't get paid for the two articles in mX, but that doesn't mean I regret wasting the time writing the articles.

I don't get paid for writing for Media Search (although I get a hell of a lot of free stuff!) but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop writing for them.

Money is good, but if someone offered me a publishing contract for my novel, which included no money, I certaintly wouldn't turn it down.

To finish up (a very ranty) post, I'd like everyone to check out Rachelle Gardner's newest post.

She defines various publishing/bookstore/sales terms, and talks about money and returns.

I must say, after working in the bookstore for five years, when she says things like, "In tough times, bookstores occasionally return books for credit rather than paying their bills with actual money, setting into motion a devastating financial spiral for many publishers (who actually need cash to run their business, not a warehouse full of unsold books)."

It's all I can do to start ranting all over again, about how bookstores are worst off than publishers, bla bla bla, which I won't go into.

A similar thing happened in class the other day: we are writing this chain novel in one of my classes (where each person has a chapter to write) and we're in the process of publishing/printing it.

Our teacher, last class, mentioned she wanted to side-step Corporate Communications. Basically, Marketing & CC (where I work remember!) has to approve all out-going leaflets, posters, signs, booklets etc anything with our Tafe's logo on it. The Communications Officer does a copy-edit, proof reads and approves everything to make sure the style suits our style guide, doesn't offend anyone, etc etc.

Now, in re to the chain novel, they're thinking of getting an ISBN and selling it.

It seems to me that it should go through CC. It's a publication from our Tafe that's going out into the public: it should go through CC.

So I went up to our teacher and told her that. She said it takes to long. I didn't argue: there's one officer, and a whole lot of work. What do people expect? I know he does get help sometimes - I've copy-edited and proof read publications for him before - but basically it's him.

Now, to tie that with Rachelle's post, I guess I feel protective over CC and the bookstore, since I've been involved with both of them, and understand where they are coming from.

OKAY.

It is officially the end of a very ranty post.

Have a great night everyone!

Wasting Time/Buses/Parties & The Edward Cullen Thing

Hello again kids!

Well, let's not talk about my day, shall we?

For some unknown reason, the last party didn't leave for AN EXTRA HALF AN HOUR, STANDING AROUND TALKING.

Let me be the first to inform you: I DON'T GET PAID EXTRA TO WAIT AROUND FOR YOU. SO YOU WASTED AN HOUR OF MY TIME. THANKS A LOT.

That, combined with a twenty-eight kid party before, made for a not happy Jan *cough* Megan.

And then, getting on the bus to go home (late, mind you, as I missed the first two!!!), three stops after I got on, TWO OF THE MOST ANNOYING KIDS FROM THE LAST PARTY GOT ON.

They saw me, made a beeline and I wanted to shoot myself.

Instead, I texted Lit Life commentor Amy, and told her of this fact, and she told me to tell the kids that I "don't take work home with me".

Before I had a chance, my good friend Mel called, so I could successfully avoid talking to the kids.

I can't talk for long, dears, as I have three pieces of work I have to get done tonight, and, as I went to Mel's house and only just got home, I have to do to them now. Gah.

Wow kids! It's now almost midnight, and I started this at *Checks time* 9:15pm.

And in that time, I watched the last ever Rove and spoke to Mel on the phone. Woop Woop.

In brief publishing news, Princess Bookie has a three-book comp! Check it out and enter!

A fantastic take on the Edward Cullen thing they call a phenomum (as if! Pfft! [or, Amy, pift :P]) (via Rachel Hills). I read it and think back to when I was thirteen and try to imagine if I could get caught up like everyone else.

But then I think about that theory, and think about how many mums are caught up in Twilight too, and then realize we can't just blame the thirteen year olds for this problem.

Either way, it's an interesting article.

Justine Larbalestier discusses how time wasting can be your friend.

Doyce Testerman (aka Daphne Unfeasable's husband) muses on NaNoWriMo, and gives some helpful advice on being nice to your cheerleaders - your friends and family.


And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is a wrap!

I am off to bed, to ponder the homework and assignments I haven't done! Woohoo!

Night all!

Tiredness + Research

Hey kiddies,

Sorry about the lack of posting yesterday!

You wouldn't believe it, my day was 100% insane.

First off was work at the Gift Shop, 9-5.

Then, I was babysitting for the foster agency, 6-1.

I got home at 1:30am, utterly exhausted. All I did was shower and go to bed, nothing in me for blogging!

I can't actually write a proper post now either, I need to get ready for the children's party shop cuz I need to leave for work in fifteen minutes.

But I will say thank you for the over-whelming response to yesterday's market research! It was so wonderful to read all those lovely things about you all... *Cough*

So clearly, one person replied, so thanks to the rest of you!

Come on kids, why do you insist on being anon?! I know I have over 1,500 of you reading Lit Life daily, I want to know things about you too!

Somehow I doubt all my begging will get me anywhere, I have been trying to learn more about you for agesssss.

So on that sad note, I must head off and get ready for work.

I shall have a proper post for you when I get home tonight.

Have a great day!

Book Advertising, Questions and Tutoring!

Hello everyone!

What a weird/fantastic day it's been!

On my way to work this morning - two hours early remember! - I walked past the mother of my girl in grade three. She was chatting to another mum, and as I was approaching she noticed me and I went over.

Turns out the other mother and my girl's mother were talking about tutoring, and the other mother was saying how hopeless all the tutor's she's tried have been.

I just sort of shrugged - and my girl's mother said how awesome I was :P - and then I had to go to work.

When I got to work, the manager wasn't there yet, so I sat outside on a bench waiting.

The next thing I knew, someone was tapping me on the shoulder - the other mother! I felt a bit like a doctor's surgery when she kept asking if I could "squeeze her in", "if only for half an hour", oh, and, she'd "pay extra". I said that wasn't necessary, and I'd check my diary, but the manager came so I said I had to go and I gave her my business card.

I got a call from her about two hours ago, and all she kept saying was "whenever suits you".

So I would like to officially announce the fifth child to join the Megan School of Tutoring! YAY!

In other awesome news, I ended up staying another hour after work, which is going to come in handy - after work I dropped into the foster agency to get the details for work there tomorrow night, and after that I went to the shopping center, where I spent up big!

I bought several items from peteralexander, and also a bag from Dangerfield. I lurve the bag, it's big and black and wonderful!

And peter, well. No need to start me on that!

As I was walking around the shopping centre, something caught my eye....

Something like this...

BEST. BOOK. ADVERTISING. EVER!

Isn't that the best book advertising ever? EVER!

It's so creative and awesome and eye-grabbing. YAY!

It's for Patricia Cornwell's new Scarpetta book, and although I can take or leave Patricia (basically leave, I don't really read crime), I just love that advertising. Itsn't it genius?!

In other awesome news, I have this brilliant new idea for a story! Yay! So I'm going to get down on it and write it!

I have to say, Steph from Hey, Teenager has some downright awesome dialogue advice. So good, in fact, that I think I'm going to print it out, stick it on my writing wall (which includes papers on submissions, comps etc) and refer to it when writing dialogue. That's how awesome this advice is. Check it out!

Allison Winn Scotch has some wonderful first paragraph advice over on Writer Unboxed.

I would now like to hand it over to the Queen of Blogging, Rachelle Gardner, for this next post.

And I would also like to throw that back on you, dear readers!

So, in Rachelle's blog today she asks readers why they read blogs.

The questions are:
1. What are your primary reasons for reading the blogs?
2. How often do you read blogs?
3. How often do you comment?
4. What's the BEST advice you've received from a blog?
5. What's the most surprising thing you've learned from a blog?
6. What are your favorite blogs? (Besides mine, of course! No fair sucking up.)

So, cuz I know all of you are really interested in my opinions (well, clearly, since you're reading this!), I am going to answer the questions:

1. I read blogs for a number of reasons. A) To catch up on publishing news, B) to learn new things about publishing, C) To find out about book tours/new books/etc, D) To read behind-the-scenes stuff about the lives of writers (Meg Cabot and Maureen Johnson talk about life a lot) and finally E) Because I enjoy reading them!
2. I read blogs daily, without fail. Even if I don’t blog – sorry guys! – I still read them.
3. I don’t comment as often as I should, to be honest. I usually only comment if I feel super-strongly about a topic that’s being discussed. Usually, if I like a post, I’ll advertise it on here, and the say my own take/opinion on it.
4. The BEST advice?! Too many to list! I’ve been reading blogs for years; I couldn’t even begin to narrow down one good piece of advice!
5. Same as above: I’ve learnt so many fantastic and surprising things I can’t narrow down!
6. I think my fave blogs are pretty obvious – the ones I keep advertising! Rachelle, Nathan, Daphne, Steph, Kirstin, Kiersten, Allison, Meg, Maureen… I’m sure there are more and I’m sorry if I’ve missed you!

So now I want to turn it back on you: for a little market research, please humor me and take a few minutes to answer the above questions! You don’t have to go into much detail, but a quick overview of why you read Lit Life would be great!

So, can I just say, within posting this, the Internet Explorer has crashed six times. And I had written a very long paragraph about how much I HATE it when my net crashes, yet, as with all other things in this post, that is lost.

So thanks, Net Explorer.

And the last time it crashed, I hadn’t even had a chance to go back into blogger yet.

ARGH.

So, I am going to post this before it bloody crashes again.

All the words that require linkage – such as the list of my fave blogs – will be done over the course of the night, so I can publish this post, and atleast it’s out there.

And then I’ll link.

Anyway, have a great night everyone! I’m going to throw my laptop out the window (I kid, I kid! *Shakes fists* Stupid laptop! Grrr!).

*UPDATE* I have tried EIGHT times to post the links. I'm not even kidding. I am THIS CLOSE to screaming, killing something, or throwing my laptop out the god-damned window. I am not even kidding.

If you want links to anything you've read in this post, email me at literary.life(at)hotmail(dot)com, and I'll email them to you.

Otherwise, the links to Rachelle's, Nathan's etc blogs should be in previous posts - I quote them a lot.

I'm so sorry, but I am so fed up with this.

Anyone know how to STOP Net Explorer freezing? EMAIL ME.

Tori Amos + Feeling Faint

Hello all!

I have started this post, I kid you not, over ten times.

My Internet decides it likes to play up on me, freezing at random points in my life, and lately this has been happening once approx every ten minutes.

I'm not even kidding.

I tried to post before class this morning, but it kept freezing and in the end I gave up and almost threw the stupid thing out the window.

On the plus side, I just got home from Tori Amos!

ARGHHHH!!!! *Screams excitedly*

It was so good! Tori is FANTASTIC! :D

And on the train home, I met this awesome chick and we had the most brilliant discussion about music. It was awesome! I couldn't believe she knew who Kaki King was - no-one knows who Kaki King is, and, much less, she brought her up! - and all this other random music. It was so fun and refreshing:)

I was planning on posting some Tori pictures, but since the stupid thing keeps freezing, you'll have to wait for those :P

On a Meme from Death Wears Diamond Jewellery, here is Things I Love Thursday: A list of things I love!

-Granny Smith apples
-Juices
-Mobiles
-iPods
-Music
-The smell of grass after it's rained
-The smell of my shampoo
-peteralexander pjs :P

I could go on, but I won't.

I really need to get to bed, and I also need to eat more.

I almost passed out this afternoon: after class, I had my boy in year eight for tutoring. It was hot walking to his house, but I felt okay.

When I got there, we sat down at the kitchen table as per usual, and as the one-hour session went on, I started thinking about how hungry I was, and then for the last half an hour or so, I couldn't concentrate. I felt all faint and I kept leaning my head on the back of the chair (they're tall chairs!), but tried my best to look semi-alert.

Instead of hanging around to chat with my boy's mum and sister - as I often to - I just said bye and left.

Walking to the bus stop I felt really faint, and I knew it was because I hadn't eaten all day. It was just after five at this point, and the last time I'd eaten was at 2:30pm, when I had a lolly snake, and before that was at 10:30am, where I had a piece of toast.

I had an apple in my bag and, while I was walking to the bus stop, quickly ate that, but I didn't even feel well enough to stay standing, so I collapsed under the bus stop and sat there, waiting for the bus to come.

When it did, I got on, lent against the window and closed my eyes.

When I got home, I made a huge batch of spag bol, with mince and tomatoes and garlic and all yummy stuff, big enough for me to have left-overs for dinner tomorrow, and sat on the couch eating and taking it easy.

I felt better after that, but I think that's just showing me that I really don't eat enough :S:(

On the plus side, I had my hair cut yesterday - just about four inches! - and I also dyed it.

So yay for a really dark brown - it's almost black, but still brown. But dark. Really dark.

Anyway, I am falling asleep, and my boss called me earlier and asked me to come in two hours early tomorrow :( there goes my sleep in!

Sorry about lack-of-publishing post today!

But, on a last publishing note, do head over to Steph's blog where she lists the reasons why she'll put down a YA novel. I must say, I agree with most of them, from vampires to author's clearly trying to get a message across, ie "stay away from drugs!"

Have a great night everyone!

Privacy, Emails, Links + Pictures to Burn

Hey everyone!

Following on from this post, where I said I can't let go:


On the train this morning, I had an epiphany.

Yep, a true blue epiphany.


I was listening to Taylor Swift - of course - and Picture To Burn came on. Now, before today, the song was good, nothing special, but nothing awful. Not one of my fave Taylors, but I listen to it.

The basis of the song is about a guy - of course, most Taylor is! - who broke her heart, and instead of getting revenge or anything, she's just going to add him to pictures to burn. And that made me realize - perhaps all I need is my own burn list!


A list of ex's - and to a certain degree, friends - who I should stop thinking about the get the hell over.

So, once this post is finished, I am going to construct a list of all the people that I need to burn: forget about, get over.

Let's hope this works! Argh!


On other bookish news, I'm going to be a part of an ARC tour! Yay! It's for Elizabeth Scott's new book, but on the downside it's touring fourty blogs *gulp!* so, as Elizabeth says on her blog today, it might not make them all :S

There's a really interesting topic being discussed over on Allison Winn Scotch's blog. Everyone is discussing whether you should pass on editors/agents names/emails/phone numbers when friends/co-workers/random people ask for them.


I have a huge problem giving out people's numbers normally. Like if a friend asks for someone else's number, I ask that person first, and say, "is it okay if I give so-and-so your number?" Usually it's no problem, but I always like to check first.

Similarly, I HATE IT when people give out my number.

I also hate it when people forward me chain emails (don't even get me started on those!) with a bunch of other people's email addresses visible, which means those people can see mine too.

For God's sake, use the BCC!!

This particular instance, this person forwarded a chain email to me, and another person also received the email.

Our addresses weren't BCC'd, and everyone could see everyone else's emails.

This annoyed and upset me GREATLY as one of the other people in the email I DID NOT want them to have my email address.

ARGH.

I'm getting angry all over just thinking about it.

So, let's move on.

I've been put in that situation before: someone has asked me for a contact, when that person knows I have the contact - so it's not like I can lie and claim I don't know.

It's awkward, but then again, I'm sure I've asked people for contact details before too!

Jessica over at BookEnds sheds some light on why agents say no.

Over at Ed Anon, a question was asked: just what do Editorial Directors do? And the answer? "I can't tell you!" All the people in publishing houses, at different houses, have slightly different titles, and by answering what an Ed Dir at Ed Anon's house does, would mean that Ed Anon would be Anon no more. In the comments, people are answering, so if you're not sure, check it out!

Lisa & Laura: How do you get your characters to talk?

Libba Bray: Writing a novel, a love story.

Kirsten over at Pub Rants discusses publicity.

Nathan Bransford discusses query letters in a new way.

Pimp My Novel discusses movie-tie-in books.

Justine Larbalestier discusses tricky bits in books.

On the mega plus side, I have another agent interview in the works!

I don't want to post it until I find a specific article to attach it with, but so far I've had ZERO LUCK. I think I'm just going to give up, but want to give it one more shot.

Anyways, I must be off. Expect the agent interview soon, and, all bloggers, you won't want to miss this one, trust me!

Tonight I'm going to a pub with two of my best friends - Mel (from The Melbourne Cup) and Jess, both of whom I did business school with last year, and we're going out to celebrate something very exciting that happened to me today, but I'm sorry, I can't say anything at the moment!

Anyway, I need to get ready, so, have a great night everyone!

Meme from Simmone: Letter To Younger Self

Okay, I know I just blogged but bare with me.

In some freaky coincidence, I was just reading Simmone's newest post, and listening to Fifteen by Taylor Swift.

At. The. Same. Time.

Both are talking about wanting to talk to your younger self. Simmone writes a letter to her sixteen year old self, informing her of all wonderful things, and Taylor is singing about:

'cause when you're fifteen and somebody tell you they love you
You're gonna believe them
When you're fifteen and your first kiss
Makes your head spin round but
In your life you'll do things greater than dating the boy of the football team
But I didn't know it at fifteen

Because, basically, it's my blog and I can, here's a letter to my teenaged self:
*And before you laugh, I am aware I am only 21, but bare with me here!*

Dear Teenaged Megan,
Hello! Oh how many times I've wanted to talk to you, and say that shit back then doesn't matter at all now!

How I wanted to reassure you that it will all be okay, but, of course, no matter how many older and wiser people told you that, it doesn't make a difference as, when you're a teenager, everything is now and if the now is crap, then the future will be too. ("My life is overrrrrrrrrrrr.....")

I would like you to be nicer to the people you may not be so nice to now; it will surprise you to learn that the people you keep in contact with after high school and various writing courses you do will be the people that weren't necessarily your best friends at the time, and for some weird reason we're friends with them now.

Trust me, this still confuses me now, so surely all it is doing is confusing you then. But it's fantastic, and you wouldn't have it any other way.

You shouldn't worry about your friendship with your best friend, although you guys spend a year not talking, and when you leave for Alice Springs you also weren't talking, you two were meant to be best friends and you will grow up to be little old ladies, in rocking chairs in the nursing home, still debating about the world. That hasn't changed.

Speaking of Alice Springs, it might be nice that instead of drinking all your money away, if you save some. It'd be nice to return to Melbourne with more than $50, thanks.

Although a lot of people would disagree, I say go ahead and enjoy year eleven and twelve as your sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll years. Lots of people would tell you you're crazy - as they did! - but really, in the long term it's had little impact on our life - except for great memories! - so go ahead and enjoy it.

Don't get so caught up about dating, and thinking about what everyone else expects of you. There's lot of time for that, and really, it doesn't matter now.

Don't worry, or even change, your first time. It still is something I think about now, but it made you who you are today.

Try not to be so influenced by you-know-who. It's so not worth it.

Try not to get involved with several people actually; it only leads to trouble. You know who I mean.

Know that your relationship with your parents improves drastically once you move out; although this may not seem like a big deal now, you actually learn to value your dad pretty high later on. And that's important to you (as surprising as that is!).

I guess the most important thing you need to know is that now, at twenty-one, you are exactly where you need to be and your life is right on track.

Don't worry!

Love, Megan, twenty-one years.

Not Letting Go + Study!

Hey fellow blog-readers: here's a secret you might not know about me.

I can't let things go.

Nope, I am that awful ex who, moments after breaking up, bombards you with countless texts asking stupid questions, trying to 'clarify' things, anything I can think of to keep talking.

I am that person who, months after not talking to a friend after a fight, will email them to try and make peace.

I am that ex who, after me dumping you, I email you and see how you are.

Even I am surprised when I get a polite response instead of "screw you".

Anyone who knows me personally knows I can't let things go.

I live in the past, bad.

I can admit that, and I can see how that would be a bad thing *cough* but I can't help it: I like things the way they were, not how they are.

This only applies to some things, of course, not all.

Things like failed friendships and failed relationships, I generally want back the way they were.

I see the person's name pop up on msn or an old text and it takes all my will not to talk to them, yet more often that not I start.

Today a similar situation happened. The situation ended with a sad smile and a, "I will understand if you don't want to talk to me for a few weeks" (long story) and I held out until eleven before texting the person in question.

I honestly cannot help it. It's an actual problem.

I know people get frustrated because I can hear it in their replies, but most humour me for a little while.

Today's one, for example, said, "I know you're upset but..." Which is a really nice way of saying leave me alone, basically. Haha.

Anyway, I have no idea why I started talking about this, if nothing else because it's on my mind.

What else is on my mind is homework.

As one of my friends Sarah would say, shit is hitting the fan with deadlines are fast approaching.

This morning I handed in one major assignment (and by major I mean, it was hand this in or fail the entire subject, regardless of all your other assignments and marks through-out the year) and it was YAY that's done!

On the weekend I emailed all bar one section of my screenwriting folio; that section is a hand-written graph thing that - admittedly! - I still need to do, but the rest is done!

Tonight, I've completely cleaned my room - OMG! - and organised all the random crap lying on my floor in folders: bills, MWF, random, work.

I wrote out another homework list, and have already ticked two things off. YAY! Two things that are signed, sealed and delivered (well, one is emailed and one is printed, to be handed in tomorrow :D).

Now I am working on my report for my MWF internship. This involves two essays, and I have a hell of a lot of appendices, which has required going through all my MWF posts to find the ones that I need, going through all my MWF paperwork, all my MWF emails. It's very time consuming as there's so much to go through!

But finally, I've found everything I need. I have around 50 pages of notes to print off for the appendices, and I just have to write another 500 words for one of the essays and I'm done.

I'll print everything off and hand it in tomorrow.

I also have another essay that's due on Wednesday - well, it was due two Wednesdays ago, but I haven't been to class (I have medical certs, people!) - that I *gulp* haven't done yet.

That plus the 5,000 word folio that is still untouched.

Yikes :S

On the plus side, this change of scenery for me seems to be working. I've relocated myself from my room to the desk in the lounge, and so far I've been ever so productive. It's such a bonus as now I can sit on my laptop for hours without it burning me (it gets soooo hot!), and lay all my papers out.

Also on the plus side, Rachelle Gardner has an awesome post about characters, and Maureen Johnson tackles the issue of word counts, and how 560.6 words really isn't that much.

Anyway, I'm going to get back to this homework.

Have a great night!