All Quiet on the Motropolis Front

First week of full-on life and I survived, not only that, I managed it superbly. That’s not to say that the wheels will fall off anytime soon. But I managed, and that is the main thing. I went to bed, slept when I could, and only had one nap last week before work, and it was only half an hour. If you know me, you know that I nap a lot, and to work physically for an extra 4 hours three nights a week, only one nap is pretty damned good.

So I am currently packing apples for a smallish orchard in our local area. I can’t say they are the smallest, but they certainly aren’t the biggest. It is 20 years since I last packed apples, and I was given the job because I knew what to do. Surprisingly, the system isn’t much different, except instead of packing boxes ourselves, we have a conveyor and feed the apples onto the trays. The RSE (Recognised Seasonal Employee, normally Pacific Islanders) then pack the trays into boxes.

The supervisor has been testing my skills, by throwing apples (not literally) down the line with signatures on them (to ensure that they are being checked) and working two lines at once – which isn’t easy! And so far, I’m doing okay. And because I have a goal in mind, I can keep going until the end – 8 or 9 weeks away.

And I have been editing. I am up to Chapter 24 our of 42, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but I have had limited time. And I have also been going over the chapters from the day before to ensure that it makes sense, so really I have been double editing. I like where the story is going, and enjoying the editing process.

Anyway I only have 12 days this month to finish off the editing, so I guess Io better get my backside into gear and work a little smarter.

Until next week.

Mayhem and Bedlam

This week is going to be crazy for me, because I have taken on a job packing apples three nights a week. It’s for 4 hours a night. Which doesn’t sound like a lot, but in the scheme of things, it will add up at the end of 10 weeks.

I also have my stretch (yoga) class and pole class to attend (on alternating nights to the pack shed work), plus organising tea for the nights that I work, because I start at 5pm.

I also have a day job, gardening at rest homes around the local district, and it’s going to make things very interesting with getting home on time to have a shower, get dressed, have dinner and then go to work.

On top of all of that, I have writing / editing to do, and an Organics course to work my way through.

Some people think I’m mad for taking on the extra work, especially since I still get ultra tired and occasionally need afternoon naps, but I’m looking at the bigger picture, and that is the money that I will earn through the packing, is going to be used for something specific – I want to get my teeth fixed. My front teeth don’t look very nice, and I’m very conscious of it when smiling at people, so I’m hoping that I can use this money to get the smile fixed, and then I can feel more confident and grin more, and perhaps get some updated author pics done.

I have been working my way through edits, and also looking at programs that can help me make book covers, because I am just crap at that sort of thing. I have managed to find some pictures, I just hope that they work out.

I’ve also re-uploaded Finding Amy Archer, because Amazon kept telling me that there was an issue with it, so I’m that I’ve managed to fix it. I’ve also been going through an increasing the prices of my ebooks to $2.99, except for Running Away, which is the book of the month in my newsletter.

Hopefully I survive this week, because it is the start of a long journey, but one that I am keen to get underway, and then I can smile about it at the end.

Progress

It’s Sunday evening, it’s been raining today, the first time in a while that we’ve had rain during the day. Fortunately, we got out in the garden yesterday and mowed lawns and planted plants. So today was a day for doing things I love doing. Instead I ended up having a nap.

But then when I got up, I thought I should get some more done on my Organics Gardening course through the Open Polytechnic. And now, I’ve been doing some editing on Compromising Positions, my romantic comedy.

I’m not quite half way through, I’m at Chapter 15 out of about 41, but I’m over a third of the way through. And getting back into a routine of editing / writing in the mornings again. It feels good to get back into the swing of things. All things going well, I hope to start writing my next story in April.

But here is an excerpt of what I’ve been working on. Hope you enjoy it.

Ten days later, most of my gear had been moved, except for the bed and the lazyboy. They had been too heavy and cumbersome for me to move on my own. I’d asked Kirsty for help, and was expecting her to arrive any minute.
“Hello, Jo?”
A sexy voice rumbled. My heart wanted to melt. I turned around to find…
Logan.
I looked him straight in the eye, and felt a giddy sensation overtake me and my knees went weak. I had to brace myself on the chair to stop from stumbling. We held eye contact for longer than we should have with an awkward silence. He stood in my doorway, a tight grey t-shirt showing off all of his muscle definition, his thumb hooked through the belt loop of his blue jeans, the other hand removing dark glasses his face. Silhoutted in the doorway he looked like a contemporary romance hero. I shook my head to gather my senses. He wasn’t who I was expecting to show up on my doorstep.
“Oh, Hi, how are you?” I tried not to show the surprise in my voice, but I don’t think I did very well.
“Were you expecting someone else?”
“No, yes.” I paused, swallowed and straightened myself up. “Kirsty actually.” I scratched my head and fidgeted, hoping he wasn’t watching me blush. There was a cute smile on his lips, his hazel eyes shone. I hadn’t noticed his eyes before. I guess I was too busy telling him to butt out.
“Kirsty asked me to help.”
My mouth opened wide, and closed again. “Okay, thank you.” I turned away from him, then turned back. I became hyper aware of him as his frame filled my only exit from the room.
“You don’t mind me moving in with your father? I mean, we aren’t a couple or anything.”
He smiled, and scratched his head and blushed. “I know, I talked to Dad, he said that you were only friends.”
“Did you think…” I did something vague with my hands, like a coupling. The red on his cheeks darkened, and he ducked his head down. He pulled at his lips with one hand.
“Ah, yeah.”
I wanted to laugh, but I couldn’t. His discomfit was actually quite endearing. I smiled at him. I stepped forward and held out my hand. “I’m Joanne Leicester. I went to school with Kirsty.”
He nodded and reached out to grip mine. It was warm and firm and my knees went wobbly again.
“Yeah, I vaguely remember you.” He said. It was my turn to flush and I felt the heat rising up from my neck. I looked away and indicated the bed and the lazyboy.
“They’re the only two items that need to go.” I said.
“Okay, are they ready to go.”
“Yeah,” I said as he stepped past me and looked into my bedroom. He looked at the stripped back bed, the clean walls, windows, floors. There was nothing in the room except for the bed and base, which I had propped up against the wall in order to vacuum the room.
“I got Kirsty’s truck, so we can put those in the back. He indicated with his thumb over his shoulder.
I looked outside at the Utility truck. It had a big deck, we could probably get the bed and the lazy boy on.
“What’s first?” He asked.
“The bed?” I suggested. We went into the small space and his scent filled the room, a masculine essence with a hint of leather and spice. I tried to quietly inhale it and commit it to memory, because I really liked it. We maneuvered the mattress out the doors and onto the ute. The base of the bed was next and they slotted in nicely together. The lazyboy was cumbersome, and awkward to carry, and I started to get the giggles.
“What’s wrong?” Logan asked.
“Nothing,” I replied as we tipped the chair sideways to get it to fit through the doorway. Logan stepped backwards, off the step and landed in amongst the bushes, the chair landing on top of him. My giggles gave way to full on laughter.
“Hey, its not funny, get this bloody heavy thing off me.”
I honestly struggled. I couldn’t lift it off him because he looked so funny, his head framed by soft white blooms of the gypsophla, giving him a haloed look. The more he thrashed about, the more the tiny flowers lodged in his hair. By the time he got out, he smelt of herbs and surrounded by white blossoms.
“Okay, giggly gert, you can stop now.” He said as he brushed himself down. A smile pulled at the corner of his lips as he spoke. He shook his head and a shower of white cascading from him. We lifted the chair out of the garden and put it onto the truck, where Logan tied everything down.
“I’ll meet you at your Dad’s.”
“Come with me, saves taking two cars.”
“I have to come back and clean.” I said.
“I can drop you back.” He said. I nodded and got into the truck.

The Ever Evolving Story

I am a plotter, I like to have an outline of the story before I proceed. I have tried to ‘pants it’, but I seem to lose steam fairly quickly because…well, I have no idea where the story is going to go.

In saying that, I am also flexible enough that when I’m writing the story, new ideas can develop and be fitted into the story.

Case in point, Compromising Positions. Originally this story was about a relationship between a gardener and a cantankerous old man that she gardens for, with a side story of a romance with the estranged son. This initially had the working title of The Gardener. However, upon reviewing what I had already written, and further ideas, I decided to focus more on the romance, and have the friendship with the older gentleman as a subplot. Then came the idea of having the two main characters catching each other in compromising positions, hence adding to the conflict within the budding relationship.

Then, I started adding back story to the characters, and the cantankerous old man was an ex prime minister, and being seen with a young lady sent gossip magazines into overdrive. So I wondered how this could impact the plot and subplot.

The latest evolution of the story involves a personal attack against one of the main characters, which adds a whole other depth to the story.

Its funny how stories sometimes take on lives of their own. What seemed like a good idea at one stage suddenly isn’t so shiny and good, and becomes lacklustre and ‘meh’, and often, I find, that my stories really need some flexibility when I’m writing them to allow more punch.

And I find that conflict is a good way to add punch, so I often look for ways that I can throw more at my characters, to see how they react. The more I put them through, the more they grow as people within my pages, and the more real they become to the reader.

When we write the stories of our lives, it evolves in ways we don’t expect. I didn’t expect to get to be in my 40’s and twice divorced with one child. I expected to be happily married with two or three children. How different that life would be from the one I live now. But I am happy with my life, I have a partner I adore, a son that is my world, a wonderful place to live, I work full time in a job I love (writing it a side hustle for me), and I can afford food for my table. I have faced hurdles, and I got over them and moved on. My life has evolved, and the conflict that has been thrown at me over the years, has provided me with a chance to mature, develop character, and become (according to me and my friends and loved ones) a better person.

I challenge you today, to look at your life, and see how it has evolved, and how it has made you the person you are today. The choices that you made have given you character and created the path for your life as it is today. Are you unhappy with your life? You can choose to change your path. Its your choice to evolve your life.

Have a great week

Catherine x