Diary of a page junkie

I admit it.

I'm a page junkie.

There's nothing better at the end of a working night than seeing how many pages I've written. I love seeing the pages and word count add up. It's addictive!

My, how all that has changed...

These days, I'm happy to get a couple of pages done a night though in all honesty, I don't look anymore. Too depressing for a speed freak like me.
That said, there is something infinitely satisfying about revisions when you chop great chunks out and add in two brand spanking new scenes as I did last night.
And the best bit?
I can see this story taking a new direction!
Which of course complicates matters for a little bit later when other scenes have to be chopped and changed but hey, isn't that the point of revising? Making the story better?

So for this page junkie, I'm currently at page 62 of The Pregnancy Surprise (an office/baby story for Romance.) That's after 3 nights work with tons of slashing and adding in the 2 new scenes.
Will keep the page count coming.

True confession Tuesday

While I've posted a blog over at the Pink Heart Society today for Temptation on Tuesday (think George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Joe Flanigan and you'll definitely have to check it out!) I've decided to make my own version, True Confession Tuesday here and out myself.

As many of you know, I've been absent or very, very quiet for the last few months. I've vanished from loops and my writing has slowed to a crawl (eg. so far, it has taken me as long to get partially through these current revisions as it took me to write my first 2 books this year!)

There are reasons, one fabulous, one not so great.

The bad news first: I had a TIA (transient ischaemic attack) or mini-stroke end of September, which affected my right arm and leg. Symptoms resolved fairly quickly but the never-ending tests and fear had me pretty worried for a while.
I'm not going to go on and on about this but only to say if you ever experience any weird symptoms, worth checking out.

Now, onto the good stuff.
I'm 14 weeks pregnant!!!!!!!!!
After baby dramas in May this year, I'm so thrilled by this pregnancy and treading gently through each day.
The only downside is the incredibly awful morning sickness, which lasts from the time I open my eyes to when I go to bed, hence the limited writing. Bit hard to keep hands on the keyboard when they're gripping the porcelain. (Oops, sorry, too much info!)

So if anyone has a miraculous cure for 'all day' sickness that works, let me know and I'll gladly give you as many of my backlist books as I can. Mind you, it has to work and I have to warn you, I've tried nearly everything already!

Creating memorable characters: in the first page!

Julie Cohen has issued an interesting challenge on her blog, where she asks people to post a first page excerpt and demonstrate how we create characters and conflict so early in a book.

So, as we've been chatting about INHERITED: BABY, here's the first page from the book with my two cents worth thrown in for good luck!

Maya Edison stood ram-rod straight, oblivious to the huge society crowd that had turned the funeral into a farce. She stared at the casket containing her dead fiancé as it was lowered into the ground, wishing she could cry.

(By her stiff posture and not caring about the crowd around her, we get the impression Maya is a strong woman.)

Wishing she could feel something other than the soul-deep weariness that had seeped into her bones around the time she’d had moved in with Joe Bourke, fallen pregnant with his child and bought his phoney lines about wanting to get married.

(She's had it tough. 'Soul-deep' implies more than your average grief.)

Wishing she didn’t feel the slightest hint of relief that her nightmare with Joe was over. Or the overwhelming guilt at her role in his death.

(What's this? She had something to do with Joe's death? Demonstrates our heroine is flawed and maybe isn't solely deserving of all our sympathy?)

Loving Joe had been a rush, a whirlwind romance that plucked her up and deposited her in the vortex of an emotional hurricane, leaving her to pick up the pieces eighteen months later.
“You okay?”
She turned at the light touch on her elbow, nodding mechanically, gaining some comfort from the genuine concern in Riley’s deep blue eyes.
Riley Bourke, Joe’s serious older brother, the only person at this funeral who had leant a helping hand after Joe’s death, the only person who seemed to care.

(Instantly, we get the feeling the hero is real. He has 'genuine' concern, has helped her and cares, three great qualities for a hero to have.)

Interesting, huh?
What do you think? Does this short intro give you a feel for the characters?