A Few Successes

Over the last few days there have been a few successes with writing in my house.

Firstly, my daughter was entered by her school into a competition to write a mini saga in less than 50 words. Her entry is now going to be published through Young Writers in a book titled Mini Marvels which will be available at the end of April.

This was her entry.

The Beginning Or The End?

The tension was unbearable. Amy had to open

the envelope as soon as possible. She wasn't

expecting much. Her heart pounded in her chest,

everyone held their breath. Her hand ripped

open the letter. Her eyes lit up, all A's. This was

the beginning of her life!

Marian Thomas (14)

The other success is that I have just had the results back from round one of the Emerald competition, run by Romance Writer's of Australia. My first three chapters have gone into the top 15 and the complete manuscript will now go onto round two. The idea of the competition is to mirror the submission process.

Entering competitions is extremely useful, especially when you get feedback from the judges as you do with Romance Writer's of Australia. This enables you to see your strengths and weakness through a reader's eyes.

Cats, more cats and even more cats

Like many farms, we have feral cats, but during the last few months I have been catching these hissing bundles and taking them to the vets to be 'dealt with'. Once this is done, they come back to live peacefully with us, without increasing their numbers any further.
This is Twm, one of the first to be 'dealt with' and he is one of four who come into the house for a sleep sometimes. The others live either in the calf shed or the old cow shed.


This little project of mine, has been financially helped by Cats Protection League and one of their local volunteers has loaned me the required traps. It never ceases to amaze me, that within days of being set free, after having given me the run around to catch them, they want to be friends!

A few of them even come with me when I walk the dog, although Tara is not impressed, as you can see from this photograph which was taken last October.

I have only two left to catch now and they are proving to be the hardest ones as I keep getting all the others who just want to be friends.

Yet More Snow

Last night, along with most of the country, we had more snow. Constantly seeing white is losing its attraction - fast. At least the severe freezing temperatures we saw last week have eased. Milking in the mornings was extremely cold and even by the evening ice still lay in patches inside the shed where the milking parlour is situated and the cows looked as if they were competing in Dancing on Ice. Fortunately everyone stayed upright.

One thing that has kept me going during all this weather is forthcoming writing courses I have booked to attend during 2010. Next month I shall be in Fishguard for Kate Walker's course on writing Contemporary Romance. The course takes place in Fishguard Bay Hotel on 19th to 21st February. More information can be found at http://www.writersholiday.net/ and I am looking forward to catching up with friends I have met on previous courses.

Also last night I collected the post from relatives in the village, as the postman has been unable to get round the lanes due to snow, and I was thrilled to receive my membership pack from Romantic Novelists' Association. As an unpublished member of the RNA I am now able to enter a manuscript into the New Writers' Scheme. This is something that has helped me so much over the last few years as I work towards hopefully one day being published. For anyone wanting to write romance it is well worth joining the RNA, but as the New Writers' Scheme has limited places it is advisable to apply early in January. http://www.rna-uk.org/

So, those are the things warming my days at the moment. What is helping you through all this cold, snow weather?

New Beginnings

Happy New Year!

The New Year dawn cold and frosty, so cold in fact that when I went out, long before the sun had risen, the milking parlour was frozen. Later the sun came up and warmed everything a little, but by the end of the day snow was falling.

During the festive season we had a busy time on the farm, with a calf being born on Christmas Day, one on New Year's Eve and one on New Year's Day. In between that a gorgeous set of twins was born.

My most exciting new beginning for the New Year is the start of a new book. It is still in very early development stages, but my Hero will burst into my Heroine's life and completely turn it upside down, of course by the end of the book they will totally in love.

I'll leave you with a few snow pictures taken this morning, one of my dog and cat going for a walk in the snow, my horse having a roll, trying to cover himself completely and a snowy farm scene.

Christmas Reading

Over Christmas, when I manage to snatch a few quiet moments,
I will be reading Peaceweaver by Judith Arnopp, which has just been published by a friend and fellow member of Cwrtnewydd Scribblers.


This is what is written on the back cover.

1070, four years after the battle of Hastings; Eadgyth, in hiding

from the conquering King William of Normandy, relates her tale of passion and conflict.

Her story begins when she is sold into marriage to

Gruffydd ap Llewwllyn, leader of the Welsh; a man old enough

to be her grandfather. She is saved from sorrow by love but the romance she finds is not in the arms of her husband. When Harold Godwinson launches a surprise attack. Gruffydd escapes but Eadgyth falls into the hands of the Saxons.

Eadgyth is taken to the court of King Edward the Confessor. There she befriends the queen and her feminine charms enable her to infiltrate the sticky intrigues of the Godwin family. However her happiness is threatened as the portentous date of October 14th 1066 looms.

Eadgyth's story highlights the plight of women, tossed in the tumultuous sea of feuding Anglo Saxon Britain.

For anyone who wants to read Eadgyth's story it is available to order on amazon.

Christmas Countdown

I can't believe that Christmas is just a week away. Life on farm has kept me really busy for the last few weeks. All thought of writing, blogs or books, have been put to one side.



So, here is a picture of our tree and now that nearly all presents are wrapped, cards written and food shopping just about done I can get back to blogging and writing.



How are your Christmas preparations going?

Tuscan Reunion

I have just returned from a trip to London to meet up with some of the writers I met on Sharon Kendricks course in Tuscany this May. Here we all are enjoying the sun in Tuscany and thanks to Jo for this photo.

On Friday we met up in a Tuscan restaurant and chatted over a delicious meal which took us all back our wonderful week in Tuscany, where we honed our writing skills, talked and ate delicious food.

The following morning, as strong winds whipped along the London streets I found my way to Kensington Palace and was thrilled to discover I was able to go in.

I had a nice time wandering around the exhibitions and state rooms. Taking photographs with a flash was prohibited, but the one below of The King's Gallery came out quite well without a flash.

Then as rain added to the wind I walked through Hyde Park and stumbled upon The Royal Horse Artillery in all their finery. I watched as they disappeared into Hyde Park, the sound of the gun carriage wheels and horses as they moved off was something I've never experienced before. Then to my amazement they fired their guns and came galloping back through the now lashing rain.