Progress Friday

Hey peeps

Cannot believe it's Friday already, and my, what a week this has been! I started Monday as usual - not grumpy because school's in now and Monday means I get to pack the kiddo off and enjoy a few hours of peace and quiet at home to work (I know, bad. I'm a perfectly flawed & imperfect mum, remember? *grin*)

Was looking forward to a nice & easy week, where I'd hopefully get all my ducks lined up and finally be starting work on the staggering to-be-written pile of 2012. It was too much to ask, yet...

Monday took a different turn the minute I opened my inbox and saw an email from Valerie Mann of Decadent Publishing. A little while earlier, prompted and prodded by friends at Decadent (Jessica E. Subject, JoAnne Kenrick, & Rebecca Royce - yes, I'm looking at you, ladies!), as well my amazing beta reader & friend, Lynn Spangler, I had bitten the bullet and written a story for the 1NightStand line at Decadent.

And would you believe it - Valerie said they liked the story, and if I still wanted a contract, they'd offer one.

If I still wanted??? I'm like, seriously??? Lady, I'm ready to fall upon your feet to get a contract with your house and into the 1NS line!!! Back and forth we went that morning (I love it when US folks are at their work computers late at night - our times mesh just right when I get on in the morning!), and by the end of the day, I was...

A Decadent Publishing author!

How's that as a way to start the week? Next up came the sheets and sheets of paperwork necessary whenever you contract a story (and that's work I loooove to do, lol!), with me totally flying high... to having to crash yesterday when I burned and simply started to hyperventilate.

Not to mention that for once, I am so looking forward to the weekend, because
a) it's a long weekend, Monday being a public holiday here (Chinese New Year festival), &
b) we're making the most of the extra day by booking ourselves into a hotel for the next 2 days!

Yes, hubby, the hyenas, and I are going on a small vacation break this weekend, and I am so looking forward to that! Imagine - no cooking, for 2 days. No making the beds and cleaning. The gorgeous beach and sea... Gah, I wish I were there already, lol!)

So now I'm in that I-cannot-wait-for-cover-art stage where the 1NS is concerned - the title, btw, is Once Upon A Stormy Night, and the story takes place on my island. It's about the meeting of Lars Rutherford, a British/Swedish expat, and Simmi Moyer, a mixed race white/Indian career girl on a stormy night. Neither is looking for love, but love might just have found them nevertheless...

Hope you'll all have a lovely weekend, peeps!

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Progress Friday--strikethat Saturday!

Hey beautiful people!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I sat down early in the morning to write the last chapter of Before The Morning. Got into the action, I blinked, it was time to pick up my son from my mum's... and I was 5-10 pages short of finishing the book. Which I did in the evening. 8,922 words added yesterday, and that means...

The WIP is finished! I wrote 'The End' on the ms yesterday night at 9.17 p.m. It totals at 108,400-something words, and is the longest book I've ever written. Lol, told you that one turned epic on me.

Now I need to take a break from the book for a few days/a week, so I can go back to it with fresh eyes and work in the suggestions of my crit partners. Then it's another round of beta reads, before this baby is sent off to my editor (who is waiting for it eagerly, it appears *grin*).

I'm over the moon right now. This book has been a labour of love all the way. From devising the characters, to tying the overall arc of the Corpus Brides series over all 3 books in this lineup, to the sheer amount of research it took to get this one as beefed up as possible. This is one story where almost every physical location I mention in the book actually exists - from the houses in Mayfair, Notting Hill, and Hastings; to the city centre of Prague; the Roman necropolis at Alyscamps in the south of France; the tunnel shaft of the Brunel Tunnel, found under the Thames and the first ever tunnel dug under a river - each and every one of these places exists and I did my best to get the location and details right. Not to mention the absolute fest of guns and other weapons my characters use - I got a crash course on semi-automatic pistols and sniper rifles, and can't wait to share that with my readers.

So please forgive my lateness with my progress report. I had set my goal to finish this book by yesterday, come what may, and I did it. I started this ms on July 27, and through 3 weeks-winter-break with the kids and them going back to school, and the start of the summer break - I worked for 3 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days on this one. Not bad for an epic-length story, especially when life and other books' edits flitted in too.

I sit back to enjoy a nice, restful weekend now. What are ye all up to? I admit my brain is a tad fried, but it's a good kind of fried, lol.

Wonder what my CP and the sister of my heart, Angela Guillaume, has been up to this week.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Progress Friday

Hey peeps

See this here? Yes, the ice... That's what I'm craving right now! We've been slammed by a heat wave like I've never experienced in my whole existence during this past week! Temps way beyond 30C, flirting with 90F - which used to be inconceivable for where I live! If we got 25C we considered that hot weather! The sun out there - don't even mention. It will burn your retinas if you don't wear sunglasses, and liquefy your brain after 10 minutes out. Not to mention that said brain has already been scrambled and fried with the heat in the morning... and also at night when you simply. Cannot. Sleep! because it's way too hot and any fabric touching your skin feels like you're being skinned alive.

*side note - should I start writing zombie stories...? I got quite gruesome up there, innit?*

So, this week... Not much progress. At least not as much as I'd have wanted. 5,637 words... which is a far cry from last week's 15K+, but I didn't have the same routine this week as the past one. And the kids finished school earlier, which cut down on my writing time (and as I said, brain was scrambled and fried and ran the risk of liquefying).

Good news though - I'm nearly done with Chapter 12, and then I see at most, 3 chapters left to write on this before I can wrap up this story (hopefully! And preferably before this year is over!). Ever had a story grow on you? This is what happened with Before The Morning. It took a whole new dimension and I never thought I'd get so in touch with the characters. I hope that comes through, and not just as overkill, LOL. I'm jumping into that stage where I wonder what my editor will think of this baby - so I know I'm nearly done with a story when I'm contemplating this part.

Hoping to finish Chapter 12 this weekend, and get some reading and critting done. What are ye all up to this weekend? And how was your week?

Speaking of the past week, I wonder what my bestie has up on her blog today. Drop by later and let's check out what Angela Guillaume has been up to. :)

And don't forget to drive by my Facebook profile later - pic of the Tide-Us-Into-The-Weekend hunk going up. This bloke has inspired me a new story over the past few days.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Tidbit Tuesday: On My Music Playlist...

Hey peeps

It's been a while since I last did this - so I thought I'd rummage through the playlist on my phone and share with you some of the songs I'm listening to (a lot!) lately.

I featured one of Adele's songs a little while ago, Rolling in the Deep. Loved the tempo and the lyrics were powerful, and quite different from usual Adele fare that is more slow/blues-y and not really my cup of tea.
Until I got to listen to this, and the song totally blew me away. I heard the story playing in those lyrics, and believe me, they grip you by the throat and I found myself crying once when I was listening to this tune. Can so, totally, see this one going up as the soundtrack for a story somewhere. And didn't think I'd say this, coz I love Rolling in the Deep - this song really could be Adele's best! Take a look at the video (starkly simple but so potent!) and listen to those lyrics *shivers guaranteed!*

Adele - Someone Like You



Now this one I found completely by chance - stumbled upon it on the music channel on TV. I'd forgotten to switch the channel to the cartoon ones and when I started the TV, this sound came up a few seconds before the images loaded.
What can I say? I was hooked! Love the music - the beat is just awesome, and the voice of Julian Perretta ain't half bad either. :)
(Lol, surprise - he's a Briton too!)

Julian Perretta - If I Ever Feel Better



And, this one - no surprise this time, lol, for those who know me - is not British but he's French, and probably the most popular DJ in the world! I love me some good David Guetta vibes, and did we Guetta fans have an awesome year, what with all the singles and musical collaborations he'd slotted.
This is one of his latest, featuring (other Briton! ROTF) Taio Cruz on the lyrics, along with Ludacris. Love Taio Cruz's voice, btw - will share one of his vids sometime. :)

David Guetta feat Taio Cruz & Ludacris - Little Bad Girl



So there you have some of the beats rocking my world lately. What ye listening to right now?

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Random Thoughts' Monday: Indulgence...!

I wanted to treat myself this weekend. The regular 'fix' would've been retail therapy, preferably at Aldo, but my husband kinda took the wind out of my sails for this one because he just gifted me with an Aldo handbag. I could've gone for shoes... except that even I have to acknowledge that I have more shoes than I need (yes, yes - a girl can never have enough shoes, but...) and I wanted a different kind of 'high'.

That's when I fell back on another product on my wishlist - that's right, you're seeing it right here! Haagen-Dasz ice cream.

Hmmm, can anyone say 'indulgence'? I cannot conceive of anything more indulgent that sitting down with a tub of Haagen-Dasz and closing your eyes while you let the taste explode on your tastebuds.

But this is where it gets tricky - Haagen-Dasz costs money. I mean, seriously, if I wanted ice cream, I could've gone for all the other brands sold here (at about half the price of one 400-ml Haagen-Dasz tub!) but then there wouldn't be the kind of near-orgasmic pleasure of licking thick, creamy, super-tasteful ice cream like the kind that comes from this little tub up here...

According to my husband (and the chief breadwinner in our household), I am not exactly thrifty... :) But I'm not exactly a spendthrift either, and sometimes, you really have to go for the quality, high-end stuff.

I might be able to enjoy Haagen-Dasz only a few times a year (seriously, a 400-ml tub sells at Rs325, while I can get Dairymaid 1-litre tub at around Rs175), but taste, people, taste! Quality counts, and to tell you the truth, I'll save up and indulge in the quality stuff.

Okay, I might've not made much sense on this post today... I think it's time to check the freezer and grab some of the 'fix'... :)

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Six Sentence Sunday - Walking The Edge: Snippet #9

Hey again peeps!

It's Sunday, and I for one, am jumping for joy because tomorrow, school starts again! Back to my routine, back to writing, back to quiet! But first, the usual highlight of the week - Six Sentence Sunday. :)

Thanks again to everyone who visits, and for your comments - I love to hear what you think of my work. To all the SSS peeps, I try my best to come by all your blogs, but I apologize if I cannot make it to each of the 150+ participants. I definitely visit if you comment on here though. Once again, big big thanks!

So, I'm still plugging my June 29 release Walking The Edge (Corpus Brides: Book One) from Noble Romance Publishing. Quick recap - Amelia, my heroine, has amnesia. The man who says he is her husband plies her with drugs and monitors her every move...until the day Amelia manages to ditch her bodyguard and she heads to Marseille, to find a man she saw in her drug-induced dreams.
But once in the French city, things don't go as planned because Gerard, the man in question, does not recognize her. He thinks she's a trap sent to lure him, and he's out to get her.

In last week's excerpt, he had cornered her in a side alley after a pretty rough struggle, and we left them with his gun aimed at her. What will Amelia do now?


'... She saw murder on his features. Even in the dim surroundings, there was no mistaking the coiled tension in him. She let her body relax, the pressure from his lower body pinning her even more as she sagged against the wall.

"You're hurting me," she said. A part of her was aghast that she had a gun pointed at her, yet another part was already spinning how she could extricate herself from her situation.

"I'll do a damn lot more if you don't start giving me some answers." ...'


More SSS goodies here! Have a lovely Sunday!

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Progress Friday

Hey peeps

My WIP counter for Before The Morning is finally going up. I scraped some of last week's writing, so what you see today is not really the 4K increase it looks like, but more like a 7K addition to the story. Despite having the boys at home this week, I managed to get some writing done. Guess I'm getting used to having them around, but I won't be unhappy to pack them off to school on Monday.

Little by little, I'm getting into my characters. My heroine is a tricky mindset to conduit - she's a master manipulator and I have to think like her, which is, well, twisted... But my technique of daydreaming the scenes is working - little by little I see every little block assemble and give me the scene I need. Then I just need to write it down, and the next day, go back through the material and beef up the emotional response.

This book is also taking me all across Europe as an armchair traveller! I left Mayfair in London last week to travel to Nice, France, for the start of Chapter 2, and now the remaining part of Chapter 2 is taking me through the centre of Prague, in the Czech Republic. Definitely thrill-worthy, and an added dimension when I'm writing - that pic up there is of Charles Bridge in the heart of Prague; a pivotal scene in the book takes place there.

I'll prolly leave the WIP this weekend to do some crits for my CPs. I am way behind on returning the favour as they crit my work almost as soon as I post it up.

What have you all got planned for the weekend? Whatever it is, have fun! :)

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Progress Friday

Mood - both mind and body = knackered! (and that pic is where I want to be!) The boys are home, playing video games as usual, and they made me sit with them to watch Clash of the Titans this morning. While the sight of both Sam Worthington and Liam Neeson should've made my day, it actually made me backlogged and when I finally got online to do some stuff, it was to find that there are technical problems on the network and Internet is running verrrrrryyyyy slow!

So other than waiting it out - technically until late this evening or at worse, tomorrow morning - I prefer to log off and get some reading done. Brain is not cooperating to help me get some work down.

The plan today was to do some research for locations in Before The Morning, Book 2 of the Corpus Brides. The problem though, I'm doing most of this research via videos on Youtube. With the slow connection, I'll only end up tearing my hair out and wanting to throw my computer out the window. I can't afford either, I'll admit...

Not much progress achieved this week, what with the kids being home. I did outline some on the WIP, and planned out my writing schedule for the rest of the year.

Looking forward to a productive weekend when the Internet connection returns to normal. What are you all up to?

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Progress Friday--strikethat Saturday!

Hey peeps

Sorry I couldn't get round to posting yesterday. I'll tell you why - check the right-hand margin here. See the Book Trailer gadget? Guess what - I sat down and made the video for Walking The Edge 's trailer yesterday. And let me tell you that takes time! Yet, it's also exhilarating and a different kind of rush!

Check out the vid, and let me know what you think. :)

Other than that, I'll rinse and repeat once more - where on earth did the past week go? I barely got any work done. I just had to blink and the day was over. Maybe my brain is hibernating too. I don't know why else I'd be so slow.

Still, some progress to mention. Against The Odds is moving ahead. Not as fast as I'd want to, but it's still progress. Hope to get myself in check and write more on this ASAP. Book 2 of the Corpus Brides, Before The Morning - the story of Rayne & Ash - is totally poking me in the gut to get written, but I can't do that before I finish with the other WIP.

Hope you're all having a nice weekend. We have some God-awful weather here right now and all I wanna do is head back under the covers with a good book.

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Random Thoughts' Monday: I confess, I'm an imperfect mum...

Hey peeps

Cannot wait - another few hours until Walking The Edge goes up live and for sale! But that's not my point today, at least, not now. :) The topic is me as an imperfect mother!

I guess you know I have 2 boys at home. My son is 8, and my stepson is 12. Both are going on 30 and of course, know everything better than me or their dad. And if you look at the pic right next, that's how they both see me. Every time they watch Dexter's Laboratory, the very-blonde, very energetic, very airhead-y and maniacal Dee Dee is the one who gets them going, she is totally like you! *me rolling my eyes here*

But yes, what can I say? I love the colour pink, I do flit around with a light step, I do like to sing (especially Abba tunes when I'm cooking). And unfortunately, I do look like an airhead too. Almost all the people I deal with physically, slow their speech around me and take extreme patience (especially the older men - afflicted by paternal patience, I tell you!) to explain and communicate with me. As if there are no brains inside my head. Duh! I am not ashamed though - I'm a girly girl and proud of it, but do credit me with some good sense and some grey matter too!

So how does a girly girl bring up boys in today's world? It's a hard world out there, for any kid, boy or girl. I don't have daughters, so I don't know what it's like to bring up girls and all they face in that arena out there. For me though, I do know I need to bring up those boys so that they respect others, and women, now and when they'll be grown men. Of course they need to do well in school, etc, but I'm an imperfect mum - I don't harp at 1 mark lost or that each will not be topping the ranks in their class, that sort of thing. I also want them to have manners, consideration for others, compassion.

On the whole, I think I'm on track. But sometimes I despair. Why? Well, yesterday we were without power for a whole day! Stuck at home between 8-5 with two stir-crazy boys who are not getting their Playstation fix, and even the batteries on the GameBoy has gone flat. So what was left to do? After playing Uno and Monopoly for 2-3 straight hours, we sat down and.... talked!

Now what do young boys talk about? No - you'd be surprised. Not girls! We're still in the stage where they'll make gagging noises when you mention girls, and this is what I despair about. Why? Check out what my son has said yesterday.

He just got a new GameBoy cartridge where there's about 100 games or so. All boy stuff like Tekken and Street Fighter and what else other bash-me-up stuff. But, guess what - there's also a version of the Disney My Little Mermaid game on there. I pointed it out, and my son came running towards me, screaming:

"Muuuuuum!!!!!!! Nooooooooooooo! Don't play that game on my GameBoy - you'll contaminate it!"

I was like, huh? Since when does something girly contaminate guy stuff?

But we're not out of the woods yet! My stepson starts telling me how there's this new game called Fashion World (or something like that) and how it's totally eeeek for him (typical guy, innit?). I ask why, and he goes,

"Well, you have this girl in there, this model, and you have clothes and accessories--"
At which point my son interrupts, to say,
"I know! You have to decorate her like a Christmas tree!"

By the time I finished with those lads yesterday, I was ready for a double dose of Mamma Mia and me singing along to all the tunes! I know I'm a imperfect mum, but tell me I am still on track with bringing those boys up... Pleeeeeeeease!

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Tidbit Tuesday: Recipe - Pumpkin & Red Split Lentils Soup

Hey peeps

Last week on Twitter I mentioned I was cooking this dish, and my friend and fellow author Annie Nicholas asked for the recipe. I promised her I'd put it up asap, so here it is!

This is totally my invention as soup, but I do attest that it tastes very good!

Here goes:

Pumpkin & Red Split Lentils Soup
(Makes about 4-5 cups soup)

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped finely
250 g red split lentils, washed and soaked for an hour
1 pound pumpkin, cubed (or canned. I've never tried it with canned but it should work too)
Spices: 1 teaspoon each of
            Cumin powder
            Coriander powder
            Turmeric powder
            Paprika
            Ground black pepper
A dash of nutmeg (don't use too much coz this can get overwhelming. You want just a hint of flavour)
Tomato puree (or sauce) - 1 Tablespoon
3 cups water
Salt
Olive oil
Pasta shells (optional)

How to:

1. Heat oil in pan and brown onions.
2. Mix spice powders and make into a paste by adding a little water. Add this paste to the onions and fry for 1-2 minutes.
3. Drain lentils and add to pan. Stir.
4. Add pumpkin and water. Stir and bring to boil.
5. Lower heat, leave to simmer, covered partially, for 20-30 minutes (you want the lentils to have softened and lost their shape, and the pumpkin to have 'melted').
6. When soup is at the consistency you want, stir in the tomato puree. Add a little salt, and taste (add more if it needs!).
7. If you want to make this a full meal but still keep it light, throw in some pasta shells towards the end of cooking time.

There you are - a quick and easy soup! Bon appetit!

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Blogging Today about Indian Weddings!

Hello beautiful people!

It's time for my every-other-month post at The Pop Culture Divas today! The ongoing theme for May and June is Weddings - so I'm inviting you to get my take on the weddings I attend in Mauritius, in my world.

It's kinda drastic for us attendees, but I'm sure you can get a chuckle or two!

Come take a peek, and leave me a comment! :)

http://www.thepopculturedivas.com/2011/06/indian-wedding-in-mauritius.html

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Six Sentence Sunday - Walking The Edge: Snippet #1

Hello beautiful people!

Six Sunday is back on this week, and as from today, I'm gonna share quips from my upcoming novel, Walking The Edge, a romantic suspense/thriller coming out with Noble Romance Publishing on June 27.
So, you might be wondering what the story is about? Here's the blurb to put this week's Six in context:

Walking The Edge
The next step might be the last...

A woman without a past
Left amnesiac after an accident, Amelia Jamison struggles as her instincts slowly rise from the depths of oblivion, leading her to question her life as the wife of a cold, manipulating and distant man. Wisps of a dream show her another man she may have known intimately, but is he a memory, or a figment of her imagination?

A man with too much information
After many aliases, today Gerard Besson is simply a police commissaire in Marseille. When a mysterious woman starts to follow him, he is suspicious - and intrigued. But things aren't what they seem, and as he reluctantly gets closer to her, dregs of his painful, buried past emerge and make him question her identity.

Each seems to have led several different lives
But neither is prepared for what awaits them when they cross the fine line between knowing your true self and that of your alter ego.
Danger is the name of the game, and as it catches up with them in the French Provence, both know they better be ready for the inevitable fall.

And here are the Six opening lines from the book! Enjoy!


"...London. Oxford Street:
Thursday December 13, 1.24 p.m.

There's a man following me again.
She didn’t know why she felt so certain of this. Selfridges teemed with shoppers in Christmas buying frenzy, and bustling crowds swarmed around her.
Someone was watching her though. She knew. ..."


And FYI folks - Six Sunday has moved to its own website now! Catch the new look, and this week's list of posters, here.

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Tidbit Tuesday: A Funny One!

Hey peeps!

Rolling with my word count - clocked down some more this morning, and Chapter 1 is done!

That's the writing news of the day! Now on to the Tidbit for this Tuesday...

You know I'm a rabid tennis fan, right? I spent the past 2 weeks immersed in the French Open at Roland Garros on my TV. The ending was a disappointment - I mean, Federer at one point giving away a 5-2 position in the first set, that start of his downfall (and fall from grace in my eyes!). Yes, I know I'm not there, not the one playing the game, but that was such a disappointment. My husband tells me I should stick to watching tennis just to ogle the male players, and I'm starting to agree...

Anywayz, speaking of players - this one seems like a true darling! Novak Djokovic is currently ranked world's No2, and he appears to be on the rise to become the next big tennis champion (especially if the rumours are true that Rafael Nadal is considering retirement soon).

But Djokovic - nicknamed Nole, and/or The Djoker - is not just a brilliant tennis player. He's got a terrific sense of humour, evident in his many impersonations of his fellow tennismen and tenniswomen.

Check out this clip - it'll have you in stitches!



There's another one here, but the Embed feature has been disabled so I couldn't post it up. Check it out if you have a minute - the impersonation of Federer is to die for!

That's it from me for today! Hope you had a laugh. :)

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Random Thoughts' Monday: What's cooking...?

Hey beautiful people

Start of another week... Sigh... You know I'm gonna ask where the past weekend went, innit? With both boys home, instead of leaving them to their own devices with the Playstation (and where they'll bash one another senseless in Tekken or Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat or what else other I'll-kill-you-while-you-kill-me-twice type of video game), so we hit the beach yesterday morning, probably our last stint to the coasts now that winter is coming in.

As for today... just put a dish of lamb tagine to slow-cook in the oven. It's a Moroccan dish - served with couscous - that features in my upcoming release, Walking The Edge. Reading all about it again through the edits last week made me crave the food once again and I set out to make it today. Well, yesterday, to be more precise - for you see, you have to cut and marinate the lamb with specific tagine spices overnight, before you'll combine the rest of the ingredients together after you've browned the marinated meat and place the dish in the oven to slow-cook over 2 hours (or a little more).

Making this dish, I couldn't help but realize how much the systematic and well-organized setup to prepare a tagine is also akin to balancing life and your many duties when you're an author. You cannot simply pull up and decide to do something - it all requires planning, like your tagine meat needs to be marinated overnight. You cannot just do something the way you and you alone want to - there are rules, a certain framework and order to follow, exactly like your recipe, its list of ingredients, and what to add first and how.
All in all, this dish has taken me 1 hour to put together and get it into the oven. Yet, looking at the instructions and the list of ingredients a mile long for tagine, you'd think you need to spend half a day in your kitchen to pull this together.

Life is like this too. You think it'll take a long, long time to get everything ironed out, but until you try, you won't know.

On Friday, I mentioned that I'm collaborating with my bestie Angela Guillaume on a story. We've given each other a deadline set in stone for that one - we have a plan, and we're doing it all ourselves. I now have until July 31 to pen down a 50K story. It sounds doable, or terribly daunting. I'm like, 6K a week? Isn't that madness? You gotta reckon that in the past, I wrote in one single block of time, uninterrupted. I could clock 3-4K words in one morning. But then I wrote only once a week - with my hectic schedule and to-do lists, I couldn't find a free block of time to write every so often. That's why I stalled with my WIPs too.

But I cannot do this now, not for this project! 6K a week, every week. How on earth...? And this got me thinking of the tagine recipe - where a little here and a little there break down the mile-long recipe page into something that's doable in steps, where one builds upon the other, and before you know it, you end up with a consistent whole.

That's what I'm aiming for in my writing now. A little everyday. I clocked down 1.1K this morning, and still found time to do my other tasks. Win-win on all fronts. This'll be my goal every working day now - 1K and slightly more everyday, to add up gradually to 50K come July 31.

My update for now, folks! What are you all up to this week?

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Progress Friday

Hello beautiful people

Sorry I've been AWOL for the past 4 days. I received the first round of edits on Walking The Edge and it's been a consuming task to get the manuscript in tip top shape (and agree with Noble Romance Publishing's Style Guide). That's quite something - a pub house's style guide. Of course, there are some basic rules all houses follow - and the savvy author knows to already work those conditions into her story before submitting - but what some places agree on and refuse, others refuse and agree... and you're left with a rather 'unique' set of conditions and rules to which you have to abide.

That being said, I've learned tons in the past few days. My editor too is a darling, a woman with whom I've really connected (thank goodness! Lol), and she's really making the story sing. Already, after the first round of edits itself, I cannot believe how the story is reading so much better. Which goes to show that you always, always need another set of professional eyes on your ms.

What else has been going on? Well, taking in the 'big games' of the French Open. Roland Garros without big surprises this year too - well, maybe not on the Singles Women's side. Can you believe Maria Sharapova is out, knocked off by this amazing 'newcomer', Na Li, from China. On the Men's side, not any surprises. Waiting for the clash of the titans today, when Roger Federer plays against Novak Djokovic. Two of my favourite men on the tennis circuit - I have no idea who to support...

Other than that, I haven't gotten anything else done this past week. Edits are time consuming, especially when you're an anal perfectionist like me. Not to mention that I can only 'work' when my son is at school, since I turn into the 'teacher' when he comes home and I have to check his lessons and homework.

Add to it too that I was without power for most of yesterday, at - you guessed it! - exactly the time when my son was in school. Upgrade works on the specific power lines on our street alone, and then those stinking idiots pulled down our phone line and only botched it back in late yesterday evening. Thank goodness they connected the Internet line (though botched coz my connection is terribly slow today!) - we're still without our land line coz those stinking idiots (forgive me for repeating myself, because these jerks are really stinking idiots!) 'forgot' to connect the second line. Sheesh...

Now looking forward to a chill weekend. Got tons of books to read, and a new story to start too... Excited about that one, because it's a venture I'm doing with my bestie, author Angela Guillaume. Will tell you more soon, promise!

What have you planned this weekend?

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Progress Friday

No actual writing progress to account for today, but good news and progress in other aspects of life to squee about!

Finished my last exam today - the last ever paper to complete this darn degree I started last century it seems! Managed to recall my study material, answer all the questions, and still hand in the answer book with 15 minutes to spare on the countdown. Go me!

So that's all my update for today. Now I can come back to the world of the living and get some work done.

My weekend plans? Parta-yyyy all the way! :)

Have a great weekend, beautiful people!

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Link Thursday: Top 9 Lies Women Tell Men

Hey peeps!

D-1 to the dreaded exam. Consequently, being immersed in textbooks and other persuasive text parlance that reads like utter gibberish and makes no sense whatsoever - I didn't subject you to a Wednesday ramble. Still, it's hard to be away from the blog, especially when blogging seems to be one of the sane things in your life.

So without further ado, here's today's link up. I got it from the Cosmopolitan Australia site, and you can access the article to get the pics accompanying each 'lie'.

*****

Top nine lies women tell men
 We know, we know, honesty is the best policy. But anyone who says they've never dropped a porky pie is, erm, lying. Clearly. Here are the top nine whoppers we tell men...

1. That you’re the best sex we’ve ever had

Well, what else are we supposed to say? “You’re the worst?” Unlikely! Telling a man he’s the best lover you’ve ever had is the easy way out, and one that he’s pleased with. What they don’t know doesn’t hurt them, does it?

2. “I’m nearly ready to go”

This is more often than not spoken in a tone that reeks of panic – frantic harassed panic as we try to look as ready as we’re pretending to be. This is always a lie.

3. “I’m fine”

The universal white lie that tumbles from ladies' lips with reckless abandon (and often, silent fury). If a female hisses this phrase at you, chances are we are not fine.

4. "It was on sale!"

The last thing we want to be accused of is blowing too much money of frivolous items, so we lie about it because we can. Then we cross our fingers that you have no idea that Camilla & Marc almost NEVER run sales.

5. That we love spending time with your family

It’s not that we hate spending time with them, and this is not a lie in every case, but we’d rather just be spending time with you, alone.

6. “Sure, you can call me...”

When faced with a perfectly nice guy asking us out, we feel trapped. Most of the time he hasn’t done anything wrong – he’s just not our type – and we feel we can’t give them the full rejection speech or the cold shoulder. So we smile politely and lie.

7. How much we weigh

This is dangerous territory for you, buddy. A woman should never have to divulge this information if she doesn’t want to and if you put us on the spot we'll probably tell you how much we weigh...minus a couple of kilos.

8. “You’re right.”

If you win a fight because we defeatedly mutter “You’re right,” don’t be fooled. We’re lying, saying these words just so we don’t have to listen to you anymore. Of course, we don't really believe it...

9. "Just tell me the truth...”

Good news: this is when YOU get to lie.

*****

I'll admit I'm totally guilty of # 2, so that now my husband always asks if I said I'd be ready in 5 minutes or 5 Zee minutes, in which case he knows he can catch an episode of Firefly/Burn Notice/Castle before I'll emerge.
And I'm sometimes guilty of # 4 too - even though my last binge was actually at a sale at Aldo.

What do you plead guilty to?

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Random Thoughts' Monday: Catching Up...

Hey peeps

Do you know this feeling when everything is catching up with you? Rolling, snowballing, a huge swallowing of dread gathering just behind your back and waiting to engulf you the minute you let your guard down? That's where I am right now.

D-3 to the exam, and if you ask me to sit for that paper today, I can assure you I will fail. I have no idea still what I am studying. Yes, the study guide and textbook material make sense, in a weird twisted way, but do I recall what I'm reading? Nopes.

Now in case you're wondering - No, I'm not panicking. Not yet. I've been through worse exam prep (a paper to write on a Tuesday which I actually started studying for - read that as in crack the book open for the first time! - on the previous Thursday. Don't ask why - it's always something and the other happening with me!). So, yes, not panicking. Yet. Let's just hope I am good with having faith in myself this time around too. But in another way, I'm jittery, because this is the last paper. Last ever! I mean, I've tortured myself with this degree for 8 years - think I'll go for more tertiary studies? Haha, you got another think coming then! Yes, in that way, I've got a totally lazy, sloth-filled brain!

And too, it doesn't help that we're in May - which is usually nice, comfy weather. I remember that when I had given birth to my son 8 years ago in May, I spent the time at the clinic and at home wearing those light, flimsy cotton shifts. Unfortunately, not the case now. Weird weather pattern or something, but it's getting cold. Quilt and afghans needed in evenings and night-time, socks and a light wrap in the mornings when you wake up, jacket & jumper when you step out, especially before noon. It gets dark as early as 5.30 PM, and at 6 AM, it still looks like the thick of night.

So you end up trading this, your everyday Ipanema by Gisele Bundchen sandals:

for this, Aldo Swendsen boots (which I have in black, btw):

...literally from one day to the other!

And along the weekend, you walk by Aldo and fall like a rabid fan on this - the Aldo Kelli flat, which was on - magic word coming! - Sale!! (Did I mention I'm an Aldo slut?)

Hope you had a nice weekend, and that things are not catching up with you the way they are with me.

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Random Thoughts' Monday: Routines and, uh, stuff...

Hey peeps

New week, new routine. Yeah, I know - how can routine be new? Well, if you're like me, juggling different tasks so much your whole persona starts to change with every cape you don, you'd have a routine for everything.

There's the housewife/mum routine, where super-early-tweeters that are your kids bulldoze your sanity to kingdom come the minute you perceive they are awake from the depths of sleep, and where the TV and the GameBoy or Playstation console is your BFF/nanny/super-dumper. In all this time, your routine consists of not blowing your top off and uh, looking after the house. And praying your husband won't mind, once again, to order dinner out that night.

Then there's the writing days routine, where you flit by your inbox and Facebook first thing in the morning and actually manage to turn your Internet connection off and settle down with your computer to uh, write. This all before the kid's school is out, whereby you then revert to housewife/mum routine up above.

And then there's the work/study routine. Where you flit by your inbox and Facebook first thing in the morning just long enough to make sure no life-or-death reply/comment is needed from you, and after that you actually turn into a 'very responsible person' who actually does the work she's been commissioned to do, or study the total nothing-makes-sense university tutorial material and try to cram it all inside your brain and hope beyond rational hope, that come exam time, it will all make sense.

At the moment, I'm supposed to be in the last routine - studies. Got my last exam scheduled in 2 weeks, and no, nothing in my coursework is making sense yet. Still, there's hope - 2 weeks, peeps. I've known worse (as in, 5 days before the exam...).

Trying hard to stay sane, and I'm sad to stay my insomnia is just slightly better so I'm like a walking corpse most of the day. Hope you're all having a better start to this week.

From Mauritius with love,

Zee