Something For Saturday

Today, I stumbled accross this wonderful Youtube clip of a marriage proposal.
Whilst you are enjoying the sunshine, let this make your heart melt....

Thanks Liz Ringrose for sharing!

Love

Liz x

Hola

Hello, or as i've been saying for the past few weeks; Hola!

I've just returned from a lovely break in sunny Cuba, it was the perfect place to recharge my batteries with the support of several cocktails and the most beautiful beaches.

Before going on my holiday, I’d heard all sorts of horror stories about Cuba and was almost convinced that through no fault of my own I was likely to end up on an episode of Banged Up Abroad instead of returning. I’m pleased to say that the stories I’d been told were nothing like I experienced. So let me tell you what Cuba was really like....

An authentic island decorated with ribbons of sand and warm oceans, Cuba is known for fat cigars, salsa rhythms, traditional rum and rich culture.
Vintage American cars chug down the roads and horses and carts stumble slowly behind; poking into clear blue skies, palm trees fence off beaches of whitest sands and clearest turquoise waters. The greenest hills sit silently on the horizon hiding secret waterfalls and soaking up the sun which is extremely hot during the days and humid during the night.
The island is full of contrast; modern and luxurious hotels sit on the edge of old towns that are beautifully stained with history and colourful character.
The Cuban people are friendly and are keen to spread the charm that fills this small Caribbean island, allowing you to get entirely lost into the magic of Cuba.

Whilst in Cuba, I worked my way through a small stack of books. I’ll talk more about the books that I read on holiday in another post, but for now I have listed them below - they were all great books and I’d recommend them all....

• Please Don’t Stop The Music - Jane Lovering
• Making Your Mind Up – Jill Mansell
• Lizzy Harrison Loses Control – Pippa Harrison
• (un)Like a Virgin – Lucy Anne Holmes
   

Cuba was certainly a brilliant holiday and wonderful place to visit. Where has been your favourite place to visit?

 

Love

Liz x

"Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change." ~ Jim Rohn

Standing on the very edge of the rusty metal bridge, I dared myself to catch a glimpse of the view hiding beneath me. Despite the rapid pace of my heart beat and the trembling in my hands, my gaze followed the eighty metre drop below to see the sun shimmering and sparkling off the turquoise waters that flowed through the Corinth canal. 

I gasped as I felt myself sway towards the edge and a hand grabbed my arm to steady me; his touch leaving me instantly at ease. I had only known the man standing next to me for an hour, but I'd already recognised that we had the same flicker of excitement in our eyes.
           ‘Are you ready to jump?’ he asked raising his eyebrows.
            I smiled in return, a response which seemed good enough for him and he began the countdown.
            ‘3..'
            Crowds above us on the next bridge began to join in, chorusing the countdown.

            '2..’
           Suddenly the canal seemed to become narrower, the walls to the side of me felt like they were caving in and the twisting, turning pains in my chest caused my breathing to speed up.
Could I do it? Could I jump?

I was nineteen years old when I moved to Greece and did an eighty metre bungy jump down Corinth Canal. I was a teenager who lived for excitement and change, I wanted to experience everything and chased every risk possible. If I knew something was safe, the chances are I wasn't interested.

Nothing seemed to bother me back then. It never worried me when my friend had a massive hissy fit on the edge of the bungy bridge and bottled out from doing her jump minutes before mine, and I didn't hesitate when I began to feel anxious seconds before the jump - for that was half of the excitement.

 There were points when I feel I probably should have panicked but didn't. When I jumped and the cord bounced, the velcro straps holding my feet together began to tear apart. I'm pretty sure I should have panicked then.
 Or at the end of my bungy whilst I was dangling there like an over sized carrot waiting for the guys to reel me back up and all I could see was a cruise ship heading down the narrow canal straight towards me, I definitely should have panicked then.
But I didn't panic because it was exciting. Taking risks was exciting.  

I don't quite know what happened to that brave, courageous, nineteen year old risk taker. But it's fair to say she didn't stick around.
Over time, the passion I had for risks and the desire I had for change rather quickly disappeared. Now, I like the security in my life and the comfort of knowing that there won't be any disruptions in my day to day life.

So as a self confessed control freak, I openly admit that risks and changes aren't quite my passion like they once were. Which is why I'm trying to restore a position of calm regarding two big changes that are going to impact my life...........

Oh... and did I mention, these changes are both happening this week?


Love
Liz x

My Writing Goals - 2012

Now that 2012 is upon us, I have decided that I need to put a plan of action into place in order to achieve my writing goals this year.

In my previous blog post I told you how I had completed NaNoWriMo, a challenge to write 50,000 words during the month of November.
I used that challenge to do a big rewrite of my WIP. It was one of the best writing decisions I made last year as I wrote at fast pace non stop and because of this, the plot developed with constant new ideas.

The plan for this year is similar. I want to get between 30,000 and 40,000 words written in January 2012 so that this will complete the bones of my first draft.
From February 2012 I will edit and polish my work until it is ready to be sent off to the RNA New Writers Scheme. 

My other aim for 2012 is to enter writing competitions. It's something I keep saying I will do but never get round to it but it will be good practice to work on something other than my WIP.   

These are quite simple goals, but with a new job and house move in 2012 I'm trying not to overload myself with unrealistic goals. I think these can definitely be achieved!

What are your writing goals for 2012?

Love
Liz x

Happy New Year

Is it really New Year's Eve already? Blimey.

If someone said to me what did I do in 2011, my automatic reaction would be to mumble that I hadn't accomplished much but I've had a stupidly busy year and achieved quite a lot really....

January 2011After meeting Jean Fullerton in Milton Keynes Library in September 2010 and being told about the Romantic Novelist's Association I decided to join despite not knowing quite what to expect. An ex colleague had once mentioned the RNA to me but told me it was impossible to get into so I was delighted to get myself onto the New Writer's Scheme. The only problem was.... I hadn't really written anything to submit - yet!

February 2011After making a conscious decision that 2011 was going to be the year I started to take this whole writing malarky seriously, I attended the Get Writing Conference.
It was a wonderful eye opener to the industry and gave me the inspiration I needed to submit something off to the NWS.

March 2011
I'd finally started writing something by this point, it was a lot of ideas and I had no belief in any of it. But the words were there.
I'd also decided that in order to give myself time to write, I had to be selfish and spend my free time working towards my goals. I'd spent every weekend in 2010 working with young people for a fantastic charity and I'd already cut down on some of the work but it was still taking up a lot of time, especially when each hour working with the young person was followed up with more hours of paperwork.
It was really sad to say goodbye to a wonderful little girl I had been working with for such a long time, especially when I knew she wouldn't understand my reasons but for me it was something I had to do.

May 2011Wine. Shoes. Cocktails. Writing. Romance.
Of course, you guessed it. May was the month of the RNA Summer Party. What a giggle and even eight months on, I'm still feeling soooo bad for sending my Cosmpolitan cocktail flying over Janet Bridgen! Sorry Jan! xx

July 2011I'd entered a small competition online and was delighted that my writing had been recognised and came 4th place! Hurrah!
I also walked 10 miles at midnight for a local charity... you can read about it here.

August 2011
So the month had arrived. I had to submit my work to the NWS. But before, I had to take a quick holiday to Kos, Greece (naturally!).
After my holiday I had to make a few edits to my work before sending off my partial submission to the New Writer Scheme. I didn't feel confident about my work at all and wanted more than anything to send it off with a big post it attached that said 'SORRY!'.

September 2011The moment I saw the package come flying through the letter box (thanks, eager post man), I knew my MS review had arrived.
It was such a helpful report. I'd never had anyone look at my work before and I didn't know what to expect but it gave me guidance and direction that I really needed. Most importantly it told me to keep going. So I did.

October 2011The month of The Festival of Romance. It was such a good event and if there is one event I make in 2012, I hope it will be this one.
I was delighted to be on the judging panel for the awards at The Festival of Romance, it was a long process with difficult decisions to make but it meant I got to read some fantastic books and it was a really interesting experience.
The festival itself was so helpful, the workshops and discussions I sat in nudged my brain in the right direction and when I got home I was full of ideas and aware of areas of my work I needed to make changes to.
Again, as with most of these writing events, I met some wonderful people and laughed non stop!

It was also my birthday in October 2011, and my very generous parents treated me to a suprise trip to Belgium!!

November 2011November was probably my best month for writing because I completed NaNoWriMo and wrote 50,000 words towards the rewrite of my novel. It was a massive achievement for me and has put me back on track with my writing. I'm excited about my novel again, writing at such a fast pace has given it depth and more twists than I thought possible.
There was also the wonderful RNA Winter Party in November. A fantastic event and a great chance to catch up with all my writer buddies!

December 2011
And December.... what has happened this month?
I've accepted a really exciting offer of a new job to start in January 2012. I'm really excited about it and looking forward to what I know is going to be quite a big challenge.
I'm preparing to move house next year too so December has been full of painting and decorating! With these two big changes, it seemed only right to book a holiday too, so I will be off to Cuba in May 2012 - yay!
But most importantly, out of everything that's happened this month, I have rejoined the RNA NWS. I look forward to sending off my novel which I have a lot more confidence in this time as I can see how far it's come since my last submission.

So what does 2012 have in store for me besides a new job, a new house and a very exciting holiday? Well... it is going to involve a lot of hard work towards my writing. I am going to finish this novel and send it off to the NWS with the confidence that it is the best I could have done.

2011 has been such an incredible year because I have gained so much knowledge which I have been able to apply to my writing. I've also been given so much support and encouragement from writers and friends in the RNA and outside of the RNA, whenever I have felt like giving it up you guys make sure I don't feel like that for long.

So it has been a good year and I have done a lot, so God help the next person who asks me what I did with my year!!

I hope you have a wonderful 2012 and that all your dreams come true!

Lots of Love

Liz xx

Merry Christmas

Reaching For The Stars

Today is the launch of Janice Horton's novel Reaching For The Stars....

 Sounds great doesn't it? You can find out more information on Janice's book on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.  

Scottish celebrity chef Finn McDuff is media stalked and disillusioned after winning his third star and losing his third wife. He decides he’s had enough of all the food campaigns, the TV cookery shows, the constant frenzy surrounding his private life and, after giving up all his accolades and closing down his restaurant, he disappears.

With the enfant terrible of the kitchen missing, two rival newspapers, having lost their media meal ticket, compete against each other to whip up further public curiosity in the missing chef. Love him or hate him, everyone is out looking for Chef McDuff. Who will find him first and whose side will you be on...?

As part of Janice's book launch, I am joining in with the 'Wish I Was Here...' theme. So if I could be anywhere in the world right now, it would most definately be here.....

Riviera Maya, Mexico.
Last year, one of my best friends and I went on a dream holiday to Riviera Maya in Mexico. For two weeks we did nothing but relax, laugh and drink cocktails - all in equal measures. It was the perfect holiday and the perfect two weeks. I, most definately, wish I was there.*

If you wish to join in the fun, then use the hash tag #starchef on twitter and let everyone know where you wish you could be.

Happy Launch Day Janice!

Love
Liz x

*It is not advisable to dream about holidays and sunshine before going to work.... Groan!!!