It's been a while

It's been a while since I have done anything even remotely close to writing, or editing or anything to do with my book or books, or writing for that matter.

I've had a personal bumpy ride and writing has taken a back seat, in fact I would go as far as to say it has jumped off the tracks and ran the other way.

I am trying to lasso it in and bring it on back. But how do you get motivation when you don't feel like doing anything?

I am really close to finishing the second book in the Crystal Hart series and I know you've probably heard it all before, because I feel like a record that keeps going around saying the same thing, it's nearly finished.

Well it is finished, I just have to go through the process of editing and sometimes I feel that is most probably the hardest part. Sending it out, waiting and then going back through it and then sending it out again, and quite possibly all over again and again.

My creative side of me has turned to cooking and while I should have a lot of pictures for you, I don't. My camera has decided to pack up and leave town. Cooking has been very therapeutic where I haven't really had to think much, just create. Profiteroles have been my thing, I have made bucket loads of them to the point where I am giving them away.

Hopefully I am back in the writing/editing seat on Monday. Fingers crossed.

Maybe I will write some short stories instead.

We shall see

til next time
Happy Reading.

New Website

I have been trying to work on a new website.

To be honest with you, it is not my forte and I really should hand it over to the professionals, they would do a much better job.

But of course, true to being a Capricorn I am being stubborn and I will persist.

When I lost everything on my computer a while back I also lost the upload mechanism for the website as-well, (I am sure it has a technical name but since I am not much of an IT technical person upload mechanism will suffice.

So I have been tinkering away and I probably should be writing but my website is lacking and it really requires my attention.

I think I shall dedicate this week to it.

What do you think?
Do you care? (probably not)
I value your opinion. You take the time to swing on by and read it so why not listen to what you think.

Anyways, I think that is enough rambling.

til next time

Happy reading
Valissa
xx

School Holidays

The school holidays are here.
(Well actually they have been and gone)

And this is where I usually cringe. The boys get bored. They want to do things that usually cost me a fortune. Of course this holiday is no different. But I thought that I would plan ahead on this one and have hopefully fun, interesting and random things to do.

Pinterest helped, (LOVE PINTEREST) thank you for saving my sanity.

I got a heap of ideas and when it came to doing something random although it was random I had the idea to start with. Having the idea I flew with it when I woke up.

So here's a few of the things that we have done.

Mentos in a bottle. (Boys love this stuff)
We each had a bottle. I went first, as this was the first time I had done anything like this, I wasn't sure if it would work (it did).
So I was first up, the boys loved it, they thought it was a great hoot that for something so small into a bottle of coke it could explode, and then of course they both had a go at it with their own bottle. Afterwards we enjoyed eating the leftover Mentos.


 






We went for a walk along some wetlands whilst visiting my Dad in Numurkah (killed a few good hours). Got some great ideas for Book three in the Crystal Hart series.

We went to the movies (ok this cost me $$$$) but I was okay with that.
The boys wanted to see Man of Steel, I wasn't comfortable with that, so Despicable Me2 it was. Funny movie.



We had a stay in movie day. This was fun, the boys loved it. Loads of homemade popcorn.


Whilst visiting a friend, they pronounced that they had a visitor in the house for the holidays, Okay cool.
Jnr friend then went onto explain that it was a snake. Son 1, got really excited and wanted to see it, what they failed to mention was that it was an eight foot python. Great!
(I have to admit it was pretty cool.)
I stayed my distance.



The local shopping centre had a day where they could build Lego. Perfect for Son no.2

Great time killer.





 
 
 
 
Daniel and I took some selfies with Daisy our cat. This wasn't a great picture but funnily enough it was the best picture. Love my cat.









Well for a winter holiday we really didn't do much, but it was nice to spend time with the boys.

And so they go back to school and I go back to writing.

til next time
Happy Reading
Valissa

It's a little nerve wracking!

I'm not sure why.

I have been putting it off for a long time and I think it's because I really didn't know how to go about it.

Please let me explain.

For a while I have accumulated enough sales (which I must say thank you to you people out there for purchasing my books) to be entitled to payment. Woohoo!

The only thing is, without the proper paperwork Smashwords and Amazon wont pay. So I have been procrastinating for such a long time. Please don't ask me why. Because I can only come up with that I am chicken shit.
My nerves have been on edge for the last week as I finally said yep I am going to do this. I am going to get this ball rolling. For the last two nights I have said oh maybe in the morning I will call, maybe tomorrow night. But tonight, I did it and I feel elated.

I still have some forms that I need to fill in but I finally got the EIN that I needed to fill in those forms. (EIN) is similar to a taxfile number here in Australia from what I can gather.
I can barely keep up with what we need on a tax basis here in Aus, let alone over in America. (Oh I hope I have done the right thing).

But I spoke to a lovely lady who helped me as I fumbled my way along, and after ten minutes I have my number. Now to fill out the forms. :) Hopefully I won't procrastinate as long on those as I did with calling for the number.

Its almost two in the morning and I am as high as a kite on self jubilance that I did something that I had scared myself into a nervous wreck over, I am going to celebrate with a wine.
Cheers to me!

Til next time
Happy Reading,
Valissa

It's Winter

It's Winter and there is nothing I love more than curling up in front of a warm and toasty fire sipping on hot chocolate (or a red wine) snuggled into my blanket to read a good book and perhaps nibble on a nice chunk of chocolate.

Now back to our regular viewing chanel.
Reading a book in the quiet in front of the fire doesn't happen that often, firstly I have children. My time is spent chasing after them, cleaning up after them, driving them somewhere or feeding them(hopefully not my chocolate). Not that I mind, that is what I signed up for when I became a Mum.

Oh dear I think I have veered off the road.

Lets get back to dreaming about wistfully spending the day, (or night) in front of that warm and toasty fire, with a good book.

Some people may enjoy reading a good book on a warm sunny beach, or by the cool inviting water on a hot summer's day. But here in Australia it's winter

I love to read about other authors, their books and also reviews of books, sometimes its hard to get a good review of a book. The other day I came across a fabulous blog that reviews books and interviews authors. Of course I am here to plug away at it because I think it's a really good insight into a book. I am tired of the reviews on Amazon as they seem...... I'm not sure what the word is that I am looking for. Fake would be one, biased, would be another. I know that you can buy reviews and I am sceptical about reviews especially when one says it fabulous with 5 stars and one says it's trash and wouldn't even give it one star.

 

So without further ado. Here's the link. (This is the link to one of the interviews and reviews I guess you could have a look at her main blog if you, like I, liked the blog on this review).
http://bookswithwineandchocolate.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/leave-of-absence-by-tanya-j-peterson.html

Books with wine and chocolate, you could not be more apt than this, especially in winter!

To everyone.
May you enjoy your winter, (Summer in the Northern Hemisphere).
And a big Cheers to great books.

til next time
Happy Reading.

Editing

Editing, Editing, Editing.

This is what I have been up to lately. Editing.

Do I like it? Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. It's a relationship that I have with my writing that I have a love/hate relationship.

Sometimes I find it tedious and boring whilst sometimes I love it, when I love it I get to fall in love all over again with my characters. I once put it out to cyber world whether people fell in love with characters in a book.
I was surprised to find a fifty/fifty split, and I guess it depends on the story and whether the characters are portrayed in a way for you to fall in love with them or hate them.

So at this moment I am editing the next in my Crystal Hart Series, "Stolen in Action". Re-reading it (editing) I get to mix and mingle with the characters again, and I enjoy it. I admit that I think my characters are great and yes perhaps a little bias in my perception. But I am enjoying it, there is a lot going on in the book with the most of the characters and most especially the main character Crystal.

Without giving too much away, I feel that she has grown as a person, or at least that is what I hope to project.

She is up against a tough situation and when we as a person push through those tough times we grow stronger more resiliant, if we learn the lesson.

So I look forward to getting this next in the series out there, and hopefully it is not too far away.

Til next time

Happy Reading
Valissa

In the land of............

Once upon a time there was a princess (everygirl wants to be a princess!). She wanted to write for a living.

Her dream was to be able to make up magical stories that would impress thousands of wonderful people in the kindom she lived. She lived in a wonderful place she liked to called Earth.
For many years the princess dreamed that one day, one day she would be a super star and adored by many who loved her stories and willed her to make up more magical stories.

She had written some and published a few, her few fans that had read her stories so far enjoyed them and she was eager to write more.
The words flowed onto the screen of the laptop before her, coffee was drunk and chocolate was consumed by the truckload.

Then along came an evil prime minister who bought along taxes to her land increasing the cost of living, so much so that the princess had to go out and help her prince plow the fields and bring income into the castle so that they could eat and sleep in a comfortable castle.

As she plowed the fields her neck ached, her shoulders burned from the tension of being hunched over all day as she earnt the few gold coins that would enable her family to eat. She kept dreaming of the day that she will be able to sit at her desk overlooking the mountains and write on her laptop with coffee in hand, spilling out a wonderful magical story that will entertain an audience.

One day the princess will get her dream, she is working on it, bit by bit. Day by day.

As we all know. Fairytales all have a happy ending.



Happy Reading

My trip to Sydney

Last month I went to Sydney for no other reason than to enjoy and relax with my best friend! (Thank you to my husband for giving me a leave pass.)

It was windy on the sightseeing cruise.
 

Arghh!!!! (With a smiley face )

Yes it was nice.
Very nice indeed. I enjoyed it immensly.



The gorgeous view from my room.

I had a great room with a fabulous view.


Cruising passed the Opera House.

Got to see the Harbour Bridge (even went under it) and went passed the Opera House. It is wonderful to be able to see these sights and say yep done that and tick it off the bucket list.




Very late in the evening after a few glasses of wine.
 

After the cruise we began to look for some places to grab a bite to eat, but all we kept finding were places to drink. (Of course we obliged!)

They always say that holidays go too fast and this was no exception. We were planning on doing a few other things around Sydney but after a big night and a little hangover in the morning. A sleep in and a massage and a trip to the hairdressers was called for.

 

 

Hair done, dressed up and out for a gorgeous 5 Star restaurant meal.

 

 Holidays are always special and I was lucky and grateful to have had this special holiday with a long time friend who is a very generous person.

Well that was my holiday and now. Back to the bum on seat regime.

Til next time

Happy Reading
Valissa

 

Get Ready, Get set.... Almost NaNoWriMo time!

So tomorrow is the start of NaNoWriMo.

What is NaNoWriMo, I hear you ask.

Well NaNoWriMo stand for National Novel Writing Month and it happens every year during the month of November to encourage writers to write. (Possibly because the most of us procrastinate)

The aim is to write a 50,000 word novel in one month, that being the month of November.  On facebook there are a few support groups designed for this and writers groups who also support it including my own writer's group.

Last year  I tried, but only got out a mere 1300 words. Hmmmm...... Can I do better this year? I certainly hope so. I really am going to try for it this year. I havent signed up on the official website, but I am going to have a damn good go at it anyway. 50,000 words I am fairly sure I can do this in one month. Time will tell.

Not quite sure what I am going to write. I don't een have an idea which for me is unusual. I was thinking that I may write a horror thriller, something along the lines of zombies and ghouls, ghosts and such. That may be because it is halloween and I am influenced.

I may write a another romance story, I love romance stories. I think the world needs more of them, more love all around. It makes everyone feel good.

Perhaps I may do a children's crime and detective story, when I was little I loved reading mystery novels. Trixie Belden, Famous Five, Secret Seven, I even read Agatha Christie and I loved them all.  My son aged twelve, nearly thirteen is into shows at the moment that involve solving a crime and each time my dog disappears he looks for clues as to where his whereabouts might be.

So with less than twelve hours before NaNoWriMo begins, I am up in the air as to what I am going to write.

That is a mystery in itself!

Til next time

Happy Reading

Addicted to Pinterest

I have to admit this. I am addicted to Pinterest.

I love the ideas that come from there and if only time would permit to make all the great arts and craft stuff on there, not to mention the food. OMG the food, some of the food looks so damn delicious that I could eat it right off the screen if it were possible.

So yes I am on there and I have pictures of my books and pictures of books that I have read and liked and then there are some stuff for dreaming and wishing. Things like that dream home, you know the one you will buy when you win tattslotto or marry that rich billionaire, and lets not forget the fantastic ideas for getting fit.

Hmmmmm...........

Yes I think I spend way too much time on the computer, *nerd alert* or at least it was when I went to school, nowadays I'm probably in with the cool group for spending so much time on the computer. I like to call it research if I am not writing.

The pinterest thing has me captivated I try a few of the things on there and some that I say 'yeah I'm going to do that'. 'Yeah I'm a gunna'. Gunna do this and Gunna do that. One day I will surprise everyone and actually do something. My Dad's is surprised that I've written a book, well actually I've published two, written four (two at the editors) and three on the go. I'M DOING THAT!!!!!!

So back to pinterest, I love it. I think it is the best thing since sliced bread it brings the world that much closer, but its a big world and we don't have a lot of time to test all the ideas out and then recently I came across a website/blog ,funnily enough on Pinterest about a woman who tries some of the things on Pinterest, let me say that she holds nothing back on her thoughts about the idea or product, whether it worked or not or whether it was hard or easy or just plain stupid.  I find her to be funny with a dry sarcastic wit, but I believe that she is being totally honest and sometimes in this world its hard to find someone who is honest.

Have a look at her website, if swearing offends you, the "f" bomb in particular, then may I suggest that you don't look.

http://pintester.com/

Till next time
Happy Reading

Valissa

New book out soon

Hello all,

Not sure if I have shown you the cover of the new book that will be out soon.

Chance at Love.

I love the cover.

I will be posting more about the book soon.

I just wanted to show you the cover. :)



My Sons and Karate

It has been almost a year since I posted about Karate and the fact that my sons were going to join and my hope that that would stick with it.

Yesterday (sunday) My eldest son competed in his first karate tournament, his expectation and nerves were high, I had the same nerves but my expectation were not that high.

When my son was born no one prepared me for the moments when as a parent you fret for your child and have to allow them to be a person, yesterday my son went through a range of emotions, and learnt a lot, the first being he was not as good as he thought, some may think this a bad thing.  But he learnt that he has to work hard for something he really wants.

He thought that he would receive a bag of trophies not because he thought he deserved them but because he thought he was good. (I like his air of confidence and knowing that he may not do so well as his coach warned me that he may not go so well, I was not about to burst his bubble). Yesterday was a lesson learnt hard by him and tonight for the first time he went to the second karate practice for the first time. His determination to win is high.

Yesterday I rode every emotion both mine and his, I felt his nerves and I felt his disapointment as he walked away with a lot more than he came with but not something he expected, I was proud, as proud as any mother could be, it takes a lot to get up and go in a competition, and I only wish he could feel how proud I am of him.

One year ago the both of my boys joined Karate and in that time they have together gone up one belt and one of them have competed in a tournament, both are proud of their achievements and it has given them something that I as a parent could not give them, an accomplishment of acheiveing something.

Again I hope for the same thing as this time last year. I hope they continue with it.

Til next time

Happy Reading

Valissa

Reviews and Criticism

Last night I attended the local writer's group and a few of us got around to discussing reviews and whether as an author we listen to them or as a reader we listen to them.

This was quite an interesting look at myself and I'll explain why.

When I first published my book five years ago, almost six. I was immensely proud of the huge achievement I had accomplished, I loved my book I had put so much into it and I wanted other people to love it as much as I loved it, I had grown attached to the characters and to me they were like an extension of my family.  After all I had lived with them every day for a whole year as I wrote and I had been through all of their ups and downs.

So when the critics came out and critiqued on everything but the storyline or the characters, I was left devastated, one critic hated the ending, one said there was too many swear words, one said that the boss Steve was so far from reality it was not funny. The boss in the book is actually toned down from some of the bosses that I have had in real life and yes I drew the character from reality.

I was waiting for at least one good compliment, one that said they loved the book despite the mistakes ( a long story cut short ~ my computer crashed just before it went to the typesetter for printing losing all of the work my editor had done. I had to cancel the print run and the book launch and the media or run with it and hope for the best. I hoped, of course in hindsight I should have cancelled and taken my time. Lesson learnt.) It wasn't to be. The people who loved my book weren't queuing at my door trying to bust it down to tell me how much they loved my book the characters and the storyline.

Ego, self esteem and confidence go hand in hand and some have a chest full of brass and any negative criticism is rebounded by a barrier, however I am not that kind although I have been told many a time that I appear that way and I know that I have written about this before because I still battle with my own self confidence and the older I get the more I know that I know so little.

So we talked about that self confidence as I caught the tale end of the story of Enid Blyton a much loved children's author, I know she was one of mine and it astounded me that she had confidence issues.

Are we writers so egotistical that we require that constant supply of good criticism. My jury is out on that. I have put this out on the world of facebook asking other authors how they feel about it and so many have said that they simply don't listen to the negative feedback. And this is where I was taught that if there is a negative comment or constructive criticism take it on board and learn from it.

However, when it comes to one's opinion who's to say what is right and what is wrong, orange as a colour for one person is abhorrent whilst another may love the colour.

So the other day I received a review and a comment from a reader saying how much they loved my book and how much they loved the characters. Of course my chest filled with pride and after five years almost six, the people who love my book are starting to knock on my door to let me know.

The point I want to make here is that whilst one person hated the ending of my book stating that it ruined the whole book, another loved the ending stating that it was the best part and eagerly wanted to know what was happening in the next book.

Oh yes one person's junk is another man's treasure, opinions differ. If you love a book and love an author. Tell them. I guarantee they will love you for it. :)

Til next time

Happy Reading
Valissa

The light at the end of the tunnel

I didn't think I would get here, well I have been, sort of. 
Before the virus I was close to the second book to the Hart series being finished or at least ready for the editors.  I felt ok about it, it has been a long project this second time around, probably had something to do with the fact the my attention was diverted into different directions.

But it was almost there and then I lost a lot of the work. I was devastated, a lot of hard work went into that, so I had to retrieve what I had saved and go from there, yes I have been working on it and today I wrote over 1000 words piecing it together and I can say that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it feels really good.

I stepped over to here as I needed to take a little break from it, I have been working on it all day, but it feels good, feels even better than before the loss of so much work.

Out of every bad comes an even better good. That might not be the right words but I hope you know what I am thinking.

So I'm outting a positive spin on it, I knew it happened for a reason and I accepted the fact that perhaps it was to teach me to back-up, well that and the fact that I had a better story within me.

My intention is to concentrate on it this week and get it to the editor at the end of the week, who, just yesterday asked when the next project was coming forth. 

Last week I also managed to update the website a little, adding a few extra things here and there, When you look at the Crystal Hart Page, I have added a bit of what you can expect in the next book.

I hope that this next book can live up to and even outshine the first. Well that's what I'm aiming for.

Must go and pick up the children from school

Til the next time

Happy Reading

Valissa

Bringing you up to speed.

It has been a while since I have posted anything on my blog and I wish I could say that I had done something worthwhile.

Or at the very least something substantial, but alas I haven't.  So what have I been doing?

I have been trying some new things for a new look on my website,it is proving to be more difficult than I first thought it would be. It's also taking up way too much time, but when I get there and I do say when, it will be great, dare I say it, it will even look more professional.  An easy option would be to get one of the premanufactured ones that you simply paste your contents into. However that would just be too easy and for some reason I like to challenge myself. WHY????? (I scream)

Of course I am laughing at myself here.

There have been some changes to the website. Be sure to pop on by and have a look.
www.valissaenever.com.au

About a month ago maybe a little longer my son (yes I do love him) downloaded a virus and yes I have mentioned this previously in my blog. My apologies for harping on it, but I have been busy working on the sequel to Hart 2 Heart, the Crystal Hart Series. Before the virus I almost had it ready for the editor and then, POOF! Like magic it was gone.

So I have been busy trying to rewrite what I had lost and it is coming together, scrambled so far but it is coming together. I would like to say that by this time next week I will be able to say, yep! It's ready for the editor. Hopeful thinking. One must stay positive.

I have also been dabbling at the new romance Advertisement for love.

Don't come to me for advice on being focused.

Okay til next time.

Happy Reading.
Valissa

Famous Five Plus

Hello Everybody,

Just thought I'd post the wonderful news that I have been accepted into a wonderful group of authors, we have a blogsite and a facebook page so that you won't miss a thing about all the exciting news that us wonderful authors are up to.

Come and check us out at: http://famousfiveplus.blogspot.com/

There is also a permanent link here on my blog for you the next time you come back to visit me.

Til next time

Happy Reading
Valissa

Hot on the trail

I am hot on the trail of a new romance story, yes another romance and this has a bit of spice in it so if you don't mind a bit of spice in your life (or at least your reading), then this will be the story for you.

I should have got up this morning at 2am when the characters wouldn't stop 'dialogueing' (is that a word??) in my head, the storyline so vivid, the characters so entertaining and HOT.

The book is going to be called Advertisment for love and while I've had the idea for it for a while, since Novemeber last year, last night it came over thick, fast and hot.

So I thought that I would sit here and let you know what I will be up to over the next few weeks, months and I will give you snippets and insights as we go along.

Til next time

Happy Reading
Valissa

Trying to get back into it.

Since my last post things have been scrambled.

My son (I do love him) downloaded a virus that wiped my entire computer, I lost everything including all the work I had done, all of my programs, the lot.

Did I mentioned that he is still alive and that I love him (moment of madness).

So instead of writing, I have been trying to get my computer back to where it should be or where I would like it to be.  I must have some brains as I have the most of my work saved on disk and USB which were in storage an hour from my home, so I drive down there retreive them and I was happy that I had the back up, but the next book in the Crystal Hart series I lost almost three months work as I had not updated the USB.

I have to say I am very disheartened at this as it was almost ready to go the the editor, now I'm not even sure if I want to pursue it, the only thing that keeps me going is the people who have read it want to know what happens next. I still haven't written anything more.

I am involved and run the local writer's group and I am helping another writer Kitty Jardin publish her first novel and it looks like I may have another two that I will be helping and publishing through my publishing arm, DARE Publishing. It feels good to help someone and this feels a lot better than the wallowing of pity that I was almost drowning in with the loss of my Hart Series follow up.

So that is where I am at, a bit of a dramatic turn of events since my last post but perhaps in a way it is good, I am sure the universe knows which way it is guiding me.

Til next time

Happy Reading
Valissa

When things happen.....

Oh yes things happen and I suppose I could use an expletive word here but I won't.
My son with his love of games on the internet unitentionally downloaded a virus and as much as I can say that I have my computer back, I have lost EVERYTHING.
Thank goodness I had the brains to backup my work, however in saying that, the last three months I became complacent and all that I have done in that time is lot.

You don't realise how much you do til it is lost. I did a lot, a book that I had almost completed is now back to the drawing stage, I hang my head in shame that I did not backup. Out of all this I have learnt a very crucial point. BACKUP! BACKUP! BACKUP!

That was all I really wanted to say today, I must get back to writing to try and recoup what I have lost, perhaps it will be better than before. :)

Til next time

Happy Reading

Valissa

What next?

Well it has been a while since I have posted much to my blog and while I would love to say that I have been too busy writing a novel it just isnt the case.

The past two weeks the kids have been on holidays and have dominated the computer or I have been donating my time to them, and the great part I love about what I do is that I can dedicate my time to them.

So what next, I have four projects going and I would love to dedicate my time to all of them but the reality is, is that I need to concentrate on one at a time, I'm not sure which one at the moment.

I am writing a new novel called advertisement for love and I am really in love with the characters they are really strong characters and I love playing with their situation.

I also have Becky which I have published as an e-book at the typesetters so that it can be made into a traditional book for all of you (including myself who love to hug a book). So I just got that back and I need to go through the manuscript and check for errors, any one who is in the business knows that this is time consuming, necessary but still time demanding.

I have another novel called Chance at love at the editors and I am waiting for that to come back, I love this book which is about the chance that we may have but let slip and then wonder about, I am looking forward to getting that out for you all to read.

And then of course there is the second book to the Crystal Hart series which I am still working on, polishing I suppose, there is a lot happening in this book with the characters and keeping up with them is a task, but funny and for those of you who loved Nan Hart she is back, full of life, (I find myself laughing at this).

So today I am torn between what project I am going to work on, as I said I want to work on them all, I think I might have a cup of coffee and ponder on it a while.

til next time

Happy Reading

Valissa