Monday, February 28, 2005

An Untypical Day

Most days are typical. I write because that's what I do. Today was different.
Today, I wrote and then post off a partial to Toronto. Fingers crossed, but I have also made plans for what happens next if it should not be what that particular publisher requires. Always having a fall back helps.
Arriving back home, I began to clean. Not just a silly superficial clean, but a mass panic clean. This included linseeding the fireplace hearths, wiping off marks which my long suffering husband had stopped complaining about and generally dusting everywhere. I had foolishly agreed to be interviewed and had some sort of mad idea that my usual haphazard, life's too short for serious cleaning might not go down to well.
In the event, the very lovely journalist went into exactly two rooms. She never even saw the kitchen, the bathhroom or my study that I had meticulously cleaned. No she only saw the living room (very clean) and the sunroom (superficially clean), She decided to interview me in the sun room because the sun was shining and the view of the garden was lovely. Hopefully she did not notice the dirt on the ledges.
We then talked for an hour and forty-five minutes. Hopefully, she did not think I was brain dead. One awful moment came when she asked -- so you think Mills and Boon are brilliantly written then. Pause. My answer -- they are brilliant for what they are. They serve a very particular function in life and provide a tremendous amount of happiness for people. We also discussed how M&B help create writers who know how to tell a tale and how you can tell a writer who has had some sort of M&B experience -- generally they have an idea of how to tell a story in a lively and engaging manner.
We also spoke about Barbara Cartland and my belief that she held the Romance genre back by being so well Barbara Cartland, swathed in pink like. She was enourmously successful at what she did but she also managed to imprint a certain style on the public's perception of romance writers.
We also spoke about how hard it is to get published and how good writers have to be. As well as the zinger questions of who is my romantic hero -- Rhett Butler popped into my mind so I went with him. My most romantic moment -- giving up my life in California to come and live in the UK -- all for love or perhaps fainting at my wedding. And my defination of romance -- the growth of the emotional relationship between two people as the glue which holds the whole thing together.

After which she left, praising my chickens. I forgot to mention the bees to her. probably just as well.

Anyway, my mind is totally shot and I know get to wait for the article to appear. winces

Saturday, February 26, 2005

A first posting

As I am tired of being anon on others' blogs, I have broken down and started my own.

I suppose this will register my highs and lows as a writer. However, I am most likely somewhere between up and down.

I make no promises on how often I will keep this up, but I can but try.