A Bit of This and a Bit of That!

I completed the deadline for Kangaroo Land.. You know, the April 30 one. BUT, received competition feedback from UK Authors which mentioned duplicated words and thought best to go through the ENTIRE book and check them out.  Remarkable how many there are.

Oh, bizarrely, printing a manuscript off is better when editing than reading from the monitor. Goodness knows why but believe me, it is.  Also requires back up ink cartridges!

Thought of entering the opening chapters into a competition run by US writing site Wow, Women ion Writing but  in the small print I read something about fees - don't want to get myself into a money-pickle.

Printed off Summersdale submission guideline and plan to submit Kanagroo Land with the email from Hazel Cushion from Accent Press who advised I try them. In short, I will!

Cinnamon Press have a comp deadline end of June for £16.  I checked as they don't seem to print travel - but Jan assured me that it's for any genre.

Might as well give it a go!

Received a super heavy weight engraved pen from Stephanie Hale (Rich Writer Poor Writer) because Kangaroo Land reached the Top 100. Whoop! Whoop!


That's all folks!

Re-Drafting

Am gradually printing and checking for repeated works in Kangaroo Land.   I really do want to get it to the stage where I can send it out once and for all - if only for more feedback and to say 'I've tried!' .   Also copying over chapters with 1.0 line spacing to give to GP Print of Peterborough to give book printing a go.

I really, really, really want to start a new book as have been on this one for too long.

That said, Avon's going well, so is my new women's group called Lipstick and Handbags!

Kangaroo Land, the Travelogue

Cover by my Mum

God, I've been writing this book forever ... mind you I did nip off to sea for two years.  I'm more and more confident with its contents and it's helped adding it to Authonomy and YWO (the odd nasty comment forgotten), plus mentioning on various Forums etc etc.   Writers Gazette (USA) and Write This Moment (UK) newsletters gave it a mention too.   


Knowing strangers have read it has been OK but dare I let folk I know read it?  Yikes.  


A brand new super dooper website (by Milk Design) will be up and running soon with this blog directly linking to it.  Reading up on HTML was all very well, but yawn, kept falling asleep for some bizarre reason.  My old salmon coloured web is still live so please ignore.  

I entered KL into recent competitions:

• UK Authors (£20 for feedback)
• Oxford Literary Consultants (One-page plus synopsis and free to enter)
• Brit Awards (yet to enter and free to Writing Magazine Subscribers, I think)

Kangaroo land is a simple little travelogue that hopefully has a giggle element to it. Something light to whittle away the hours on a flight or beach.  It's not perfect, grammar well, I've tried and have my old faithful grammar book by my side.   It'll cost at least £400 to get KL read by Hilary Johnson's Advisory Service (I know, she is good) but that's for appraisal only.  And a whole lot more to be proofed.  Sadly I have yet to win the lotto so that idea is on hold. Am going to stand tall and submit to agents and publishers.  Thinking ahead, will purchase a pretty folder for Rejection Slip Presentation, haha!


Currently getting the manuscript presentation correct ... you know, Times Roman Numeral, 12 pt, that kind of thing.  Oh, and quick edit (the zillionth one, I believe).  

                                                                   Another fabulous picture by my Mum.


Did I mention there'll be a Kangaroo Land sequel one day.  


Yep, I'm going back to OZ!