Revisions

My publisher and the structural editor got back to me quite quickly with revisions on the manuscript, none of which surprise me, so in between marking assignments and teaching, I’ve been working out how to make the necessary changes to the book. Both the backstory and the plot were a bit too complicated, so I need to decide what to cut and what to keep, and then make the changes through the manuscript. Plus smooth out and polish some aspects, and add a couple of scenes.

Easy.

Ahem. Well, nothing I can’t do. Just have to keep butt in chair and do it. I have until November 1st to get the revisions done. I also have to mark another 40 essays, teach three more weeks of uni, and have two trips away between now and then.

I’m taking a slightly unexpected trip to Canberra for a few days, leaving on the (aarrghh!) 6.30am plane tomorrow. Which means getting up at 5 am to leave here by 5.30am to get into town to the airport. We can be thankful that small regional airports don’t require one to be there an hour before the flight. (Have I mentioned that I don’t do mornings very well??)

My Dad in Canberra has been feeling low, and I managed to snaffle some frequent flyer reward flights, so that’s the reason for my trip. I’ll mostly be visiting Dad in the nursing home, and seeing Mum and the rest of the family, but we might manage a visit to Floriade, Canberra’s huge spring celebration with millions of flowers. The other major event on at the weekend, of interest especially to those of us born in the southern part of the country, is the Australian Football League Grand Final. It’s in Melbourne, not Canberra, but for those of you who don’t know AFL, it’s a matter of fact that anyone born within coo-ee of Melbourne is genetically bonded to an AFL team from birth, or at least from a young age.

I followed Collingwood as a kid, because my sister followed Collingwood, and she was bigger than me. I don’t follow any code of football much at all these days, but my Dad does, and although his team isn’t in the Grand Final this year, Collingwood is. So, I imagine we will probably do the Proper Traditional Thing and watch the GF on TV Saturday afternoon, with beer and crisps and peanuts and other munchies.

It will be hard. I mean, watching a couple of dozen very fit young men running up and down a large field, jumping, kicking, tackling. For those who’ve never seen AFL, perhaps I should mention here that AFL uniforms consist of short tight shorts, and close-fitting sleeveless shirts. Here’s a little sample of what I may have to ‘endure’:

LOL- who cares which team wins?

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Finished

I’ve finally finished the solid draft of Dead Heat and sent it in to the publisher. Now of course I’m chewing my fingernails waiting to hear if it’s accepted. I know it does need some more work – a little more smoothing and layering – but there are also some elements that are darker than my previous two books, so I’m not sure what she will think of those and whether they will work for the market.

However, after fifteen months, minor surgery for a breast cancer scare, brain surgery to bypass the aneurism in my internal carotid artery, a very demanding full-time-and-a-half first semester teaching at uni, and my Dad’s serious illness, I have finished writing a book – the first one I’ve finished since Dark Country in early 2009. It’s a darn good feeling – but I’ll breathe much easier after I’ve heard back from the publisher!

Now I have a few days of breathing space to get over my bad cold, maybe do some much-neglected housework and tidying, mark some student assignments, and try to work out what it is that one does when not writing or working!

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Deadline!

(With apologies to the lyricist of ‘Rawhide’)

Writing, writing, writing,
Though the brain is tiring,
Keep those words a-typing,
Deadline!

Write ’em down, move ’em round
Move ’em round, Write more down
Write more down, move ’em round
Deadline!

Cut ’em out, write ’em in
write ’em in, cut ’em out
Cut ’em out, write ’em in
Deadline!

Normal broadcasting blogging will resume in a couple of weeks, when this book is done!

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Puppy Dog Tales

Hello! I’m Tansy, one of Bron’s Border Collies. Bron’s been very busy lately, as she’s working hard to finish a book, so she’s really been neglecting her blog and her readers. Being a Border Collie, I’m pretty smart, and when Gordon was away in May I worked out how to send emails to him, and now I’ve worked out how to post to Bron’s blog. I can use Bron’s iPad when she’s concentrating hard on her computer. I’m getting pretty good at typing with my toes, and it’s definitely easier on the iPad than on the iPhone.

Anyway, I just wanted to assure everyone that we’re all fine here, and although Bron’s working very hard, my sister Jaffa (aka The Princess Dog) and I are making sure she gets walks every day, and that she stops staring at the screen long enough and often enough to give us lots of pats, ‘cos we know that’s healthy for humans.

Since Bron’s book won’t be published for a little while yet, I thought you might like to read the emails Jaffa and I sent Gordon while he was away in Outback Queensland, looking for dinosaur bone. (You can look at his photos here.)

(Just a note for any ‘Merican readers – we know about ‘Merica ‘cos we watch films – what we call a biscuit here isn’t what you call a biscuit. For us, a biscuit is a doggy treat. Yum. Oh, and our place is called The Wolery, and it’s a 100 Acre Wood.)

So, below the fold you’ll find some of our emails to entertain you. Now, I’d better go and remind Bron that it’s dinner time.

Jaffa and Tansy

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Kangaroo lawnmowers

The pleasures of working from home – I took a few minutes today to watch these locals right outside the sunroom window:

They like the grass there, and frequently graze it. For lawnmowers, they’re very quiet, use no petroleum products, and provide natural fertiliser. They also don’t cost us anything to run, and can provide hours of entertainment for the dogs, who watch them through the window. Of course, they are also a large part of the reason why we don’t have a garden!

(The video was filmed on my iPhone – which does a pretty good job, really. But I’m kind of itching to buy a better video camera…. sometime.)

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