Forwarding this on...

Traditions

Holiday traditions play such a part of our culture whether it’s something as simple as reading THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS on Christmas Eve or lighting the menorah at your grandparents’ house on the First Night of Hanukkah or remembering your ancestors with the Kinara during Kwanzaa or burning the Yule log on the night of Winter Solstice. Each culture has its own traditions and celebrations and during the months from November to January, so many are honored.

Submissions should:

   Have one of the MCs honoring a tradition or making new ones after separating from their family

   Be a minimum of 10k, maximum of 40k

   Stories will release during the months of November through January 2021

   Any subgenre is welcome and all prohibitive guidelines are observed

   Submissions should be sent to submissions@mlrpress.com

   SUBMISSION DEADLINE: August 10, 2020

   Any questions can be sent to Kris Jacen at KrisJacen@mlrpress.com

***Permission to forward***

Just One Moment

Our world can change in just one blink of an eye. It could be something amazing – the birth of a child, meeting your partner; or something not so much – the death of a partner, an accident that leaves your world different. There are so many little things that impact our lives, is it the event or how we react that is the most important?

Submissions should:

   Have an event that impacts the MC significantly; ideas – meeting your spouse; post-apocalyptic world; an accident that leaves the MC physically changed

   Be a minimum of 10k, maximum of 40k

   Any subgenre is welcome and all prohibitive guidelines are observed

   Submissions should be sent to submissions@mlrpress.com

   SUBMISSION DEADLINE: June 30, 2020

   Any questions can be sent to Kris Jacen at KrisJacen@mlrpress.com

***Permission to forward***

Almost, but getting there...

Today I received an email saying that I needed to fill in the BIF (Book information Form) and tidy up my punctuation before they send me out the contract on Wardens of the Guild 3: Heartstrings. I've filled in the form and sent it back. I'll probably struggle with the punctuation as I suck at it, but I'll give it a go. It's been a long time since I was any good at this sort of thing and will probably take me a bit to get back into the swing of things. 

Other than that, health-wise I'm doing okay. still have doctor visits ahead of me, and I'm booked into the hospital. I'm waiting for them to get back to me with an appointment time. My back seems to be doing a lot better, not hurting as much. Though my new medication gives me a headache.

I went to Costco for the first time and realised it's not for me. I'd much rather do my shopping locally. Though it is good for every once in a while.

Happy Birthday ~ Emily

Happy Birthday

Emily Kate

30

 

There's A Starman

Happy birthday Mr Bowie 

You are missed.

Crap!

Okay, so I've already fallen behind, but it's not my fault... no excuses... and I'm not really behind. I'll still be all caught up by the end of January...

I spent all of last Saturday sitting at the hospital with my daughter. She had bad cramps... she is 16 weeks pregnant (it's okay to tell everyone now, Julie). Everything is going to be okay... so no need to panic just yet. Tomorrow, I'll be back at the doctor and god knows how long I'll be sitting in the waiting room there before I get to see a doctor.

Other than that I'm doing okay... I'm 12K behind, but like I said that is nothing as I have plenty of extra days where I can nake that loss up. The hardest part is for me to try and remember where the hell I was headed with Experimentals 3: Messages from the Dead. I need to find where the hell I put my story synopsis... though I did note 4 chapters in I had already named one of the main characters by the wong fricken name. So I had to change it to what it should be. Now that just annoyed the crap out of me. Seriously how could I mix up the names Syndey Morrison and Giles McManus and for some strange reason I had added an e to Delany's  (Delaney) name that I had to take out...

Australia Is Burning...

I'm lucky, for the fires have calmed down around my area in the SE of Queensland. Now New South Wales and South Australia are the ones most at risk. We have already lost so much wildlife, people's homes, even a few people have sadly perished... and still, we have no significant rain in sight. 

I'm hoping the one thing we learn from this fucking tragedy is to be prepared... So it never happens again→ I know fires are a natural disaster, and will always occur, but they didn't have to be this bad. Aside from it would be great if idiots would please stop lighting them just for shits and giggles, or doing dumbarse crap when we're in the middle of a total fire ban that goes out of control... What I'm talking about being prepared by controlled backburning throughout the year, done by our own fire service might help with stopping a lot of this devastation.

Now I'm not an expert and I don't claim to be one, but I've listened to people, and I've read about what's going on and how they could have helped the situation... And what's happening now? We have wonderful people coming from overseas to help our firies battle the blaze. Reporters telling the news from certain points of view and trying to bring controversy to where there shouldn't be any. I don't care if there are missed messages between departments when help was being sent into coordinate and fight the blaze... all I care is that it was sent. So I say> pull up your big boy pants and be grateful for the help given.

In ending, I want to thank every single person who has worked so hard to fight to save our country from burning to the ground. Thank you to all the additional help from overseas. My heart goes out to all those who have suffered loss of some kind... and to all the animals who have perished in this whole ordeal.

The crazy things we do

Why is it when insomnia hits I don't get productive and write heaps of productive words in one of my current WIPS??? No instead my brain, at some ungodly hour in the night decides to start wondering how do I delete all the unwanted pictures from my blog media page (as I have multiples of some pictures). 

So, here I am at Oh-dot in the morning pondering what would be the best way to do this shit→ now remember I am not the most techno-savvy person in the world.  No wonder I'm sitting here now feeling half-dead, and still no closer to finding a solution. 

I spent most of the other day trying to figure out how to change the name of my Facebook Author Page... before I had to realise I had to switch back to the old format because the new format wouldn't let me do it→ only to be denied because they say the new title was misleading... I wanted it so my author page and my personal page didn't have the same title (N.J. Nielsen/Saddington) I wanted to change my Author Page to NJ's World... Now I have to wait before I can try again (I think I have to wait for a week). Next time I'll try NJ's Writing World and I might have better luck. My author page is where I like to do my promoing of not only myself but other authors as well.

Nice surprises...

I know this post will be a mix of both personal and writing so please bear with me as I ramble on... 

If you just want to read about my writing then you should just visit my WordPress blog as that is purely dedicated to my writing> updates> tips> new ideas> talking characters> answering questions> guest bloggers> or if I really liked a book. You find the link for it on the left-hand side on my blog by clicking on this W symbol... So if you have the time go and check it out. I promise in 2020 I'm going to keep it up to date.

I tried on a dress that I wanted to buy. Remembering the last dress I ever bought myself was a size 22... so I know I've lost weight, I went in and tried on a size 18, but had to put it back and get a size 16> so that was a nice surprise as the 18 was too big under the arms, and in front of the chest.

You can tell by the hair the person in the picture is not me, but this is the dress I got. I just really liked it. I don't think I could ever have hair that long again. I get bad headaches now when my hair grows longer than a cm...  The only problem with this dress is, now I have to buy a decent bra to wear with it. Someone should invent a comfortable bra for people with big boobs>>> I'm a DD cup and I've tried cheap bra's and expensive... I've tried underwire and no wire... none of them are comfortable... and you can forget strapless as my boobs are too big for them.

Besides writing my quota for today, my other job is to make some herbed butter for my brother. You should smell my kitchen at the moment it is awash with fresh sweet basil I just have to wait for the butter to soften a tad for me to combine all the ingredients.

Lastly, the third and final cricket test between test Australia and New Zealand started on Friday so I will be watching that. we need to see if we can make it a whitewash... I feel sorry for all the Kiwi cricketers who have come down with the summer flu... 6 weeks and I'm still suffering symptoms. I hope they get better soon.

Time to embarrass myself...

Okay... We all know I need to lose another 15kg (33.06lbs) this year... here is what I'm starting with... and then at the end of the year I'll share again and we can see how I did... Please keep me motivated. My back depends upon it.

I also have a set of exercises that I have to complete each day. I'm going to liken them to doing yoga. they are muscle strengthening exercises for my back to hopefully stop me from needing surgery... also I'm planning on throwing in a little bit of slowed down Tae-bo just because I can. I always did enjoy doing that form of exercise in the past.

I'm sure I will have to have many doctor appointments throughout the year to make sure everything is still on the up and up. But I figure as long as I breathing all is okay.

Don't ask me why these measurements, but these are the ones I have to keep track of...

Weight> 90kg... Neck> 42cm... Upper arm> 38cm... 

Breasts> 114cm... Waist> 98cm... Hips> 121cm...Thighs> 101cm

Up & Running...

The new Year has begun and I currently have 3 projects on the go. I will be this rushed for the first 2 months and then things will slow down because I will have caught up and be where I am supposed to be at in my writing schedule.

The Connelly Chronicles 3: Because of You I started the year off at 50K only another 50 to go.

Lancaster's Way 3: Pre-loved I started off at just over 5K so I still have 35K to go.

Experimentals 3: Messages from the Dead I started off at 1.5K mainly because I lost all my long-handed version and have to start again...go me. so that leaves me with 38.5K to go. 

Even with all of this I still say I will be caught up by the end of February. I will keep you all informed of my progress as I go along wish me luck.

Writing List 2020

Happy New Year everyone

I hope 2020 is good for us all.

This is my writing list for 2020━ they are listed in no particular order. So I"ll let you know what I'm working on as I'm working on it, okay? I only know when I have to have the two Christmas Novella's done by... so they are the only ones set in stone at the moment. I have two series I want to finish this year━ so wish me luck.

The Connelly Chronicles 3: Because of You - 100

Admetus Gaea 2: Broken Serenity - 40

Admetus Gaea 3: New World Alliance - 40

Cotters Girls 1: Tash – 40—M/F

Destiny House 1: Saving Shane - 40

Destiny House 2: Needing Norman - 40

Experimentals 3: Messages from the Dead - 40

Experimentals 4: Movements in the Dark - 40

Intended Mates 2: Dancing to the Sounds of Madness - 40

Intended Mates 3: Take my Hand - 40

Lancaster’s Way 3: Pre-loved - 40

Lancaster’s Way 4: Riding Fences - 40

Lancaster’s Way 5: A Stuart Family Christmas – 40—Xmas Novella/ends series

Sons of Evenmore 4: Life, Death, and Ever After - 40

The Connelly Chronicles 4: Just Good Friends - 100

The Lines of Marsden 5: On the 12th Day – 50—Xmas Novella

The Lines of Marsden 6: And Then You Die – 100—ends 1st line

Toowoomba Boys 4: Securing the Heart - 40

Toowoomba Boys 5: Bending the Law - 40

Wardens of the Guild 4: Guilded cages - 40—Ends series

As The Decade Ends

Normally I'd have a picture of fireworks but this year I'm boycotting them, due to the number of bushfires we still have raging in our country. So I thought I'd give you something else pretty to look at.

I can't believe another decade has come and gone. So the question is did we get done what needed to get done? And you know by my post yesterday that I almost made it but not quite━there was only one on my list I didn't finish. Though, in saying that, I did accomplish a lot.

I managed to write and tweak a few formerly written books to resubmit them for rehousing and so far this year this is what I have accomplished:

1> Admetus Gaea 1: The Gaean Prophecy>>> Formerly Silver Publishing ~ now MLRPress.

2> The Lines of Marsden 4: The Trail of Red Roses

3> Hidden Hearts 1: Harder & Harder to Breathe>>> Formerly Fireborn Publishing

4> Hidden Hearts 2: One Last Kiss Goodbye>>> Formerly Fireborn Publishing

5> Moon Runners 1: Heart-mate Mine!>>> Formerly Fireborn Publishing

6> Moon Runners 2: I Won't Let You Go

7> Sons of Evenmore 3: Fear the Scarlet Moon
8> Wardens of the Guild 3: Heartstrings

Did I make it???

My writing Plan...

That would be a big fat no... I would have if I didn't get sick for the last part of November and the first half of December I'm still not feeling 100% but I can't wait for 2020 to get here so I can put this year behind me.

I know by February I should have caught up on what I've missed out on while sick for the past month and a half. I know I can do it because I have faith in myself. Yes, it might sound like I'm tooting my own horn, but someone has to and mose well be me.

For the end of 2019 by my calculations, I'll have still have about 45,000 words to do to catch up on, but it's doable to be caught up by the end of February before The Connelly Chronicles 3: Because of You is finished. I want to start off 2020 right. So playing a little catch up is okay. Luckily for me, I'd only allotted 2 K a day for actual writing and 2 K a day for other things like editing or catch up. 

So I need you all out there to keep me on track over the next year. Drop me a line. Ask me questions. Anything to keep me motivated.

All the best 

See you all in 2020

NJ & Vlad

My Health

You know, I realised I started this year just as I finished it━sick. I had bronchitis at the beginning of the year and I have the flu now. And I've had a whole lot of crap happen in between.

I'm not looking for sympathy... Because I already have a plan in place for what needs to be done. In the last year, I have lost 16kg (35.4lbs) which because I have a major thyroid problem is near impossible to do. I have to still lose more weight. 

Not because I get the flu/bronchitis but because I have something wrong with the lower part of my spine. I also have some exercises that I need to be able to strengthen the muscles in and around my spine━so I won't need surgery. This is probably why I have so many damn headaches, but at least they seem to be under control.

Other than that I'm doing okay. I'm still saying 2020 will be a way better year for us all... and I can't wait to see you all there.

PS: I should also mention Wardens of the Guild 3: Heartstrings is finished and has been submitted.

Cotter's Girls

Someone sent me this picture a few years ago now, and it always made me think of my story TASH. Even though the two main characters in my story are a little older than this pair.

Really, they don't even look like the mains, but a couple of the secondaries who'll eventually get their own story.

I don't even know what it was about this story that made me want to keep it, but I have for years now. The truth is I don't even remember who sent it to me, but I'll be forever thankful to them.

This is one of the series in my next years writing plan... fair warning it is M/F. But I don't mind, and if you don't like that, then don't read it. I need to get these stories out of my head to make room for the gazillion others... so there you go. Vlad thinks the story is awesome... but he could be a tad bias when it comes to my writing.

What's Cooking...

I'm really into cooking at home... mainly because I know exactly what goes into each meal. I'm not talking about calorie counting or anything like that. I think I've mentioned before I have a thyroid problem and some food groups don't always agree with me. The good thing about cooking for myself is I can usually avoid those food groups. Though I have a bad habit of occasionally sneaking one into my diet and then suffering for it later.

The other good thing about cooking at home is, personally I think it's a hell of a lot cheaper than eating out. And if you're with other people not everyone can always agree on where to eat, and when we have fussy eaters (yes, I'm that person) it's just not worth the hassle.

My biggest problem at the moment is learning to cook a meal for just two people without having an abundance of leftovers. After having cooked for a family for so many years it's hard to cut back on the cooking styles. 

At the moment I'm in love with lentils... I prefer them to meat on most days. If you have any great lentil recipes send them my way... just remember I can't have cream in my food (that whole thyroid thing). Not even coconut cream.

Boxing Day

So this is what my day will consist of. Cricket... cricket ... and more cricket. We'll be playing New Zealand and even though they have a pretty good team I hope we kick their arses. Sorry to all my Kiwi friends, but I cannot lie, and I hope we do. We beat Pakistan and I cheered them on even though I have a huge soft spot for the Paki's. They are one of my favourite teams.

I suppose the next thing I'll be doing today is eating leftovers, that's if the kids haven't taken them all home. I'm writing this post in advance so I'm not sure about that one yet.

The last thing I'll be doing today is to pack away any and all decorations I have out as I do every year on boxing day. It's just the tradition in my family. It's the way it's always been done, and probably the way it'll always be done.

Plus, I need to pop downtown and buy some cat food for my furbabies. It was the only thing I forgot when I went shopping on Tuesday.

Em's Turn

Christmas has come once again

Where has the year gone?

12 of my favourites 

For old time sake

Enjoy!

Christmas Eve

It was the night before Christmas and all through my house. Not a creature was stirring━except for Robson, who thinks it's his god-given right to run around like a mad man and keep us all awake.

Actually this Christmas eve. I'm was planning on making sure most of the prep work is done for lunch tomorrow. I really don't want to be rushed off my feet. I just have a little bit more to do.

I also have to make sure all the presents are wrapped and have the correct name tags on them. Not that we went overboard on presents this year. Too much other stuff to contend with.

Also, there will be Christmas carols on TV I'll have to watch. I do love me some good carols. Grace borrowed my Michael Buble Christmas CD and never gave it back. She just loves his voice. The other week she watched the David Campbell Christmas Special with me and loved him as well. Though, if I'm totally honest the Country Christmas Special hosted by Trisha Yearwood that followed it she probably liked more.

Thank You...

I want to thank all the wonderful authors out there whose books have kept me sane throughout the year. There are too many for me to give you all individual thanks, but there are a few who have been re-reads for me this year when I needed them the most and they are:

JR Ward━Black Dagger Brotherhood & Black Dagger Legacy

Stormy Glenn━Basically for all her work, but especially Cade Creek

Kylie Scott━Stage Dive & Dive Bar 

J M Dabney━Twirled World Universe

Lynsay Sands━Argeneau Vampires

Jenny Woods━Kennedy Ink & Unlikely Heroes

David Eddings━Sparhawks Universe

AKM Miles━Scarcity Sanctuary

RE Butler━The Wolf's Mate & Hyena Heat

TJ Klune━Bear, Otter, & the Kids Universe

John Marsden━Tomorrow When the War Began 

ZA Maxfield━The Cat's Meow & Drawn Together

Alexis Morgan━Paladins of Darkness

Lynn Hagen━Brac Pack Universe

Sherrilyn Kenyon━Dark Hunters

RJ Scott━Montanna Series

Kresley Cole━Immortals After Dark

Can't get this out of my head.

The damn thing is stuck on repeat and is starting to drive me a little nuts. I love the song though, I really do. I don't want to start hating it because I can't stop singing it. I suppose it's better than the last one that got stuck in my head.

Yes, as you can tell I've been spending way too much time with my granddaughter, Grace... the shit I have to put up with to make her happy. Lucky I love her so damn much. I suppose as she gets older I'll have to listen to a whole heap pf different music, just like I did when her mother was growing up.

I'm in a bad mood.

I can't tell you what's going on with me, except to say I woke up this way this morning. I don't even know why I'm in such a foul mood. I can't even blame it on lack of coffee, because I haven't had a cup in over three years.

Could be I'm still not quite over this damn flu bug. I'm getting better every day. I just wish I was done with it. Could even be that I had fuck all sleep last night. I dozed in fits and farts, and I can't even blame it on the cats. they were mainly outside in their enclosure all night.

I have two ear infections, that are driving me nuts at the moment. As I can't hear anything properly. They feel so damn swollen all the time

I have a freaking headache that just won't quit, and it's annoying the hell out of me. There are only so many pain killers I'm allowed to take in any given day. So today is not a good freaking day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

The Name Game

Character's names are sometimes the hardest things to come by in any given story... It's sometimes even harder trying to find their perfect counter match in the love interest.

I've taken to every time I think of a name I'd like to use on a character or future character. I write them in down in a book. and then when I'm stuck for a name I can always come back to my name book and see if I have anything that fits the situation. Usually, I do.

I think the name has to really suit the character... Or be so opposite their nature that it's ironic in a way. But It's not just character names that have to be perfect. it could be anything in the story... The name of a bar... The name of the corner store... The name of a country inn... the name of a space station... Or maybe even just a beloved pet. I like to keep lots of possibilities marked down for such occasions as they might be needed.

The inspiration can come from anywhere things going on in my life... E.G: Louella's Family Restuarant in the Toowoomba Boys series is named after one of my nieces. I've named a lot of my characters after my family members. But that's okay, they don't seem to mind.

Beautiful According to Me

I'd really like to hear this story━ What happened here?

Who lives here━What is their story?

There's got to be a story here━What is it?

Just makes me think demon hiding in the shadows━what do you think?

I love abandoned buildings━who doesn't want to hear their story?

Insomnia

Sometimes it sucks not being able to sleep, but other times it's when I get all my best story ideas.

I usually have to keep a spiral notebook handy, so I can jot down anything I think of. When I get up the next morning I have to try and make sense of all my notes. Sometimes it isn't always possible. Other times I'm thinking I'm the most brilliant person in the world. Until I realise how many WIPS I already have in the works and then grumble a bit and type up the notes and put them safely away in my back-burner file.

The weird thing is the longer I go without sleep the less tired I seem to be. And the more intricate my story ideas become. Hence the reason I have been keeping better records of all my characters. Keeping track of all the important things in the stories. 

The bad thing about insomnia is, eventually I'm going to have to crash. And when I do, it's going to be ugly. I'll end up with the mother of all headaches. Damn, I'm really not looking forward to this, but as a famous bushranger (Ned Kelly) once said━such  is life.

Getting older sucks.

Life is catching up with me, and I think my poor old body is shutting down on me. I'll be turning 51 in 47 days. But I have promised myself that I'm only allowing myself to down and out for the rest of 2019... Once 2020 starts, I have to be on my A-game again.

I'm going to be far too busy to get worn out again. Well hopefully I'll take better care of myself and I won't get run down again. I've been out of it for so long, I'm just grateful I have the energy and need to write again.

Let's make a deal. If I start to slack off. you can let me know and I'll up my game and get back on track... and I'll promise to give regular updates on what's going on... both in my writing and my health.

I have to believe 2020 is going to be a better year, it's gotta be better than the year just gone. I think there will be a lot of people out there who are hoping for the very same thing.

Looking into the future

Okay, so maybe it's just the future inside my head or cleaning up the clutter in there. Since being sick, the abundance of new story ideas has multiplied. I really think Vlad is trying to lead me down the garden path where they are concerned and hiding the series I should be busy working on. He thinks he's hilarious when he does crap like that to me.

This year I meant to finish two more stories:

• The Connelly Chronicles 3: Because of You
• Wardens of the Guild 3: Heartstrings

The next couple of weeks will be telling of how much I can catch up as I think I actually have 87, 474 words left to write. If I crackdown I could probably still make it I'd at least 5.4K a day until the end of the month. That's with taking Christmas day off to spend with family. I think I'll give it a shot. If I don't make it then I'll let you know on December 31st and tell you how much time I'll need to play catch up next year. Because I'm due to start edits on The Lines of Marsden 4: The Trail of Red Roses soon.

Happy Birthday, Max.

Leigh 'Max' Walker

Happy birthday you old fart.

I hope the kids spoil you rotten.