20th October, 2011
Strictly Single Contest - entered. Manuscript request - sent. WIP finished - well, not quite.
But it's getting there, thanks to a very cool online tool called Write or Die. It's a hoot. 'Gentle' mode reminds you to keep typing if you stop for too long. 'Strict' mode shrieks some hideous noise at you (eg violin graunching, baby screaming). 'Kamikaze' starts deleting the words you've typed! I was so nervous (no; flat-out scared) I typed like a madwoman. And the words that spewed out were pretty mad, too. But - and here's the thing - they were polishable. And post-polishing, I have to say I am pleasantly surprised. It worked. So - no more perfectionism for me. (Okay, I lie. But I promise I'll try.) Not until at least the second draft.
A very timely reminder that writing is the most important thing I can do to enhance my writing career.
8th September, 2011
What a busy time it's been! The RWNZ Annual Conference was held in Auckland last month, and as usual it was brimming with a-ha! moments.
Useful to writers across the board, in my book it's an unmissable event for any writer on the road to publication. Catching up with online buddies was fantastic, and pitching to agents/editors was wildly exciting. But this year was also tinged with tragedy, and what stood out for me was the way we all came together and supported each other while ensuring the conference remained a success.
I've returned home to day-job deadlines, the usual kiddie clutter, three manuscript requests to send off, and a writing competition to enter. Best I get on with it!
26th July, 2011
Snow, glorious snow! The weatherman got it right, for once! We woke to that unmistakable Snow Silence and raced each other to the window because, although Christchurch gets chilly in winter, we don't often get snow settling.
There it was. The largest snowfall Christchurch has experienced in 15 years. Beautiful. But deadly cold for those poor folk who, post-quake, haven't yet had their heating replaced. My heart goes out to them. I just hope everyone has been able to keep warm with friends and family.
We're lucky. Our logburner's in, so we've been able to enjoy the snow the way it should be enjoyed. A snowman, snowball fights, snowflake-catching, and witnessing Little Miss Two's sense of wonder. Magic.
19th May, 2011
We've just had a swanky new logburner installed to replace the chimney/logburner we lost in the Quake/s. We're now well and truly into the winter season, and after being without heating for so long it's an amazing feeling to finally be warm in the evenings again. Hallelujah! And double-Hallelujah, because my hairdresser, who went AWOL to Auckland post-Quake and seemed unlikely to return - she's back! My hair rejoices!
Yes, there's much to be thankful for. For example, Master Seven is very happy with the new "hills" in our driveway (caused by liquefaction) because he now has somewhere cool to play with his cars!
Meanwhile, the rejections keep rolling in. "Womens fiction and chick lit are very hard sells at the moment." Sigh...
4th April, 2011
Hi! Yep, I'm still here. I've been off-line a while - a loooong while - three months, in fact - and yes, I do have the odd excuse (including, on 22nd February, another horrific earthquake, so destructive it pretty much flattened what remained of our already-shaken inner city). Still, I'm sorry I haven't been more in touch.
So much has happened in such a short time! One summer holiday spent in sunny Auckland. Two competition results for my WIP - third and fifth. Three extra weeks up in Auckland when, post-quake, our house was deemed unsafe until the chimneys were demolished. The incredible generosity and empathy of people all over the country - hell, the world - has been humbling, reducing me to tears so many times I've lost count. It's taken a long time to get my mojo back, but finally I can say I'm writing again.
30th December, 2010
Christmas: tick.
Santa: tick.
Earthquakes: tick. (Another big one on Boxing Day - 4.9, but only 5km deep so it felt bigger. Much bigger. Oh, and its epicentre was only a few blocks away from our house. Excellent. Fear, anxiety, and maxed-out stress in less than ten seconds.)
Competition results: big fat annoying cross. (See? As Grandma always used to say, the watched pot never boils. When I stop looking out for the results in my inbox - that'll be when they appear. Like, while I'm away on holiday, unable to access the internet for days on end.)
18th December, 2010
Days until Christmas: 7.
I'm trying really really hard not to clock-watch. Like my kids, I'm also counting down the days to Christmas - but for an entirely different reason. Try as I might, I can't forget that by Christmas I'm supposed to hear final results one of the contests I've finalled in.
Seriously, the whole Christmas thing is doing my head in. Not only do I keep realising there's someone else I've forgotten to get a gift for - but I'm also very very aware Christmas is getting steadily closer, and with it, those final results... (I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.)
2nd December, 2010
Days until Christmas: 23.
More exciting news! I've just finalled in Romance Writers of America's 2010 Get Your Stiletto In The Door contest. The competition is a huge event in my writing calendar because it's the only contest I know of that focuses specifically on chick lit. I finalled in the "thrill" category (suspense).
Once again, I entered my current WIP (first 5,000 words plus 500-word synopsis). And there it is! Down to the final three! Currently on its way to the final judges, Stephanie Kip Rostan of the Levine/Greenberg Literary Agency, Inc, and editor Kathleen Gilligan of St Martin's Press. Results are due around Christmas - but just getting my work in front of the final judges is Christmas pressie enough for me. As always, I'll keep you posted.
13th November, 2010
Days until Christmas: 42.
Great news! I've just finalled in RWNZ's 2010 Strictly Single competition. (We had to submit the first 7,500 words plus synopsis of our single-title novel.) Finalling is a huge thrill whichever way you look at it, but this time the thrill's extra special because I entered my current WIP. It's given me confirmation that my WIP is on the right track.
Big high-fives to the other finalists, and especially to fellow Book-In-Fifty-Day-ers, Michelle and Tyree (waves madly). Our entries are winging their way to US-based final judges, Emmanuelle Morgen (Judith Ehrlich Literary Management) and Meredith Giordan (Berkley Publishing Group). I'll keep you posted...
7th November, 2010
Days until Christmas: 48.
I'm hanging my head in shame. I've just realised that in the past two weeks I have only progressed half a chapter on my WIP. That's bad. Very bad.
I don't know. Life just got in the way. Lecturing. Tutoring. Marking (ie work stuff). Labour Weekend (ie family stuff). School runs. Swimming/music/trampolining lessons. Sick kids. Mealtimes (ie the usual stuff). On top of that, though, I've taken a couple of online writing courses. And they've been affirming and focusing and all that positive vibe-y stuff. But my WIP has suffered. That needs to stop. It will stop. From now. A new chapter from me this week, I promise.
21st October, 2010
Christchurch's earthquake tally since 4th September: 2158.
Maggie's WIP tally to date: 11 chapters.
Days until Christmas: 64.
Likelihood of Maggie keeping her grip on sanity beyond Christmas: low. Let's face it, I've got too much to do on the writing front, too much to do on the Christmas front, and with a fresh quake or three upsetting the routine most days - it's a foregone conclusion. The all-expenses-paid vacation (complete with minimalist soft-sided room) will be mine!
27th September, 2010
News? Um... well, we're still here, rocking and rolling with no sign the aftershocks are about to stop. (Last count: 1111 quakes since 4th September.)
A few days last week were almost quake-free - and I didn't like it. Not that I'm enjoying the aftershocks - but the sudden lack of them was weird. Then, on Saturday night, a cluster of four significant aftershocks. My nerves twanged straight back up to high-stress mode. And, just like that, we're back in QuakeZone. Weird as it sounds, it's almost a relief to feel them on a regular basis because last week's eery quiet reminded me of scary monsters waiting in the shadows.
Writing news? This week I'm working on submissions to editors, and adding to my current WIP. Busy, busy!
16th September, 2010
Twelve days on and we're struggling to re-boot normality here in Christchurch, NZ.
It's not that we can't function: we can, and very well. Our infrastructures have withstood this crisis amazingly. Our civil defence emergency response teams have been excellent. Our community has come together to help each other through - I'm proud to live here. And, miraculously, no lives were lost.
But it doesn't feel normal. The shops are open. School's back in. People, if their job still exists, are back to work. But there's a nervous edge to it. I avoid large shopping malls. I constantly check where my kids are. I startle at every low rumble. I quiz my son daily on what he should do in an earthquake.
We've had 611 quakes in twelve days. There's nothing normal about that.
9th September, 2010
It's funny how forty seconds can change the way you perceive everything. Forty seconds is such a small fragment of time. Forty seconds that, when you're living through it, can last an eternity.
On Saturday 4 September, 4.36am, my partner and I woke to the biggest earthquake we've ever experienced. Its 7.1 magnitude isn't the biggest recorded in NZ but, at a depth of only 10km, it had a huge destructive force.
We live in Christchurch, a beautiful, peaceful city where earthquakes just don't happen. Until now. Five days on, the aftershocks continue and every time we hear the pre-quake rumble we brace ourselves. How much more of this can our home take? How much more can we take? Read more over on GirlTalk...
29th August, 2010
And just like that, RWNZ's annual conference has been and gone. It was a fantastic weekend, spent networking with fellow writers from aroudn the country and as far afield as Australia. And the workshops - wow. We had a fantastic line-up of speakers, and if only I hadn't caught that nasty gastro bug and lost half a day - well. The less said about that the better.
After a weekend of immersion in writer-ly things, I'm now reinvigorated and ready to charge ahead with my new writing goals. First things first: I have a couple of submissions to make to editors in the wake of the conference. Fingers crossed!
15th August, 2010
I feel as if I've been waiting forever for this. But it's finally here. In just a few days I will be winging my way up to Auckland for RWNZ's 20th Annual Conference.
I'm so, so excited. Not only will I finally have a FTF catch-up with all my online writing whanau (waves madly at the BI50D loop) but I'll be immersing myself in three full days of writing workshops, I'll be pitching my novels to agents/editors, and I have a FTF critique with agent Laura Bradford to look forward to. But, most importantly, IT'LL ALL BE KID-FREE.
Yes, folks, I'll have three nights' undisturbed sleep. Three consecutive nights. OMG. Drools in anticipation.
7th August, 2010
I get knocked down. But I get up again. You're never gonna keep me down...
That 90s song has become my mantra as a writer - and a couple of days ago I got proof that it's a good mantra. Y'see, I had entered RWNZ's Agent's Choice competition. I know, I know, another competition? And right in the middle of my post-Clendon misery slump? Yep. But this time I entered (hushed voice) my new WIP. (Oohs and aahs from the crowd.) I know. The bravery of it all.
Well, two days ago I found out I was one of the six finalists. Yay! Which means my entry is now cyber-winging its way to literary agent Laura Bradford. All finalists get a ten-minute critique session with Laura at conference. Woohoo!
18th July, 2010
Oh woe is me!
Remember I entered HOTMT into RWNZ's Clendon competition? (A full-manuscript competition for unpublished authors.) Well... I hear the finalists have now been notified. Which means - sob, sob - I'm not one of them.
Am I sad? You bet. Imagine the buzz if I'd actually been a finalist! Yeah, well, cancel that: it didn't happen. So now I've lurched into I'm-a-crap-writer-and-should-just-give-up mode. I figure I'll give myself a day or two to wallow in it - and then it's onwards and upwards. At least the Clendon gave me the impetus to "finish the damn book", as Barbara Clendon would say. That alone is worth celebrating!
10th July, 2010
I've done it! I deleted 6,500 words from my debut novel (A Heat Of The Moment Thing). That's around 7% of the novel - gone. Pffft. Never existed.
HOTMT is now sitting at 89,994 words, which just scrapes in under the 90k limit for Brava's Writing With The Stars competition. And, as of this morning, I've sent off my entry! Now I just have to wait for confirmation that they haven't already reached their 500-entry maximum.
Out of 500 entries, it's a bit of long-shot to hope I might be a finalist - but you've got to be in to win...
5th July, 2010
Just when I thought I'd finished A Heat Of The Moment Thing... I hadn't.
My beloved doesn't understand. Thinks I'm mad. It's finished - move on. Maybe my beloved is right.
Then again... the novel isn't officially finished until it's on the bookstore shelves. And, as a debut novel, HOTMT is too long. At least, that's my suspicion. So. My aim: lose 6,500 words. Words deleted so far: 4,800. And that's without doing anything major. Deadline: 15th July. That's when "Writing With The Stars", a full-manuscript competition, closes. I intend to enter it.
Your role: hold me to it! Make sure I enter.
16th May, 2010
I'm a foodie. (Well, hey, I'm Taurean, what do you expect?!) It's not that I love any food: I love good food. And, thanks to a regular wine-and-food evening my partner and I share with friends - cooking to a theme - I've begun to realise this amazing thing: I can actually cook!
I'll happily spend an afternoon preparing for these extravaganzas - but let's face it, that's not what life is really about. Life is about rushing in the door, tripping over the cat, scrabbling to feed the kids before their blood sugar levels turn negative, opening the cupboards and hoping a meal will leap out at you.
So - it's time to share the love. Check out GirlTalk and you'll see what I mean...
31st March, 2010
In true Maggie style I evaded and avoided, but to no avail. Eventually I was cajoled (read "backed into a corner and bullied") into a photo shoot. The results are here for the world to see and that, folks, is a very scary prospect.
Huge thanks to Peter, my multi-talented and endlessly patient friend - a great writing partner and an equally great photographer. Cyber hugs from me! You can see more of his work at www.threechairs.co.nz.
24th February, 2010
I did it! I entered the Clendon Award. Sounds like just another competition, I know, but the Clendon is a full-manuscript competition - that's a big deal, folks. Open to non-published RWNZ members, it is judged by readers, so the feedback (and there's lots of it!) is extremely useful. Results out in August. I know; it sounds forever away. But it'll roll around soon enough, don't you worry.
23rd February, 2010
Hallelujah! A day to remember, because this is the day (or night - try 1 am!) I finished my debut novel. Yes, folks, finished. And I mean properly finished. Yep, "A Heat Of The Moment Thing" is complete. Becky has learned what she had to learn, Matt has got over himself, and the ending - well, without giving too much away, it's a happy one. Finally! Woohoo! :)
4th February, 2010
After hearing through RWNZ about the online Chase The Dream writing contest, I checked it out and decided to enter. Well! The first 1000 words of "A Heat Of The Moment Thing" has qualified for the week 4 mini-critique! Woohoo! You can check out the critique on
Even better, fellow RWNZ member and fan-tabulous fantasy/paranormal/romance writer, Kylie Griffin, was the week 4 winning entry and goes through to the final round. Good luck, Kylie! All power to the Down-Under girls!
4th January, 2010
My website is almost complete. A few more bits to add and/or tidy up, but it's sniffably close to the way I want it. And it's all thanks to Jem and Gracie at www.ThreeBearsMethod.com. You can create a website, too! Anyone can with their easy-peasy, step-by-step, online course. Fantastic support and no question too "silly" (believe me, I had some beauties!). Check it out. I can highly recommend the buzz when you see yourself "out there" in cyberspace. :)
9th November, 2009
I'd convinced myself it was a typo on the Stiletto page and results would be out in December instead. And then this morning I got the e-mail. I placed (drum roll...) runner-up in 2009's Get Your Stiletto In The Door (RWA) contest! Break out the champagne! Second place out of sixty-five entries is not bad. Not bad at all!
5th November, 2009
I'm waiting on tenterhooks to hear how I fared in RWAmerica's 2009 Get Your Stiletto In The Door contest. Results due out today. I was ecstatic to final, but this waiting game is nerve-wracking stuff. Time to break out the chocolate!
1st November, 2009
Maggie's home page goes live.
Grins all round. Wow! I'm online! Huge thanks to Jem and Gracie for their website creation course. You can do it too, on www.ThreeBearsMethod.com
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