Home but not alone

The youngest belle is off school today, something she's very vexed about as she wanted to get an attendance award for her last year of primary school. She had a huge nosebleed yesterday that frightened her and she's suffering from a scratchy throat and generally feeling crappy. Thankfully as I'd spent most of the weekend on the course from hell I've been able to take today as toil to stay with her. I'll have to get my copying and printing done tomorrow for my course work as I have to hand it in on Tuesday so I'm running out of time.
Writing is still a distant dream this week - I owe loads of people loads of things but I swear after the weekend I'll be organized again.

The price of fame

Or well scarcity I suppose in my case. I heard from a reader yesterday who is busy buying up my back list. Unfortunately, as you know two of my publishers, Moonlit Romance and By Grace Publishing closed at the start of this year. Apparently this has led to a strong market for the print copies of my books for those houses. She was after a copy of The Cinderella Substitute and finally tracked one down for £15 but she tells me that most places that had it wanted £50!!! Luckily I have a few copies of my other titles that I've been able to help her with but wow - £50.
I'm still ploughing through the course work - two sections left to go. I am never - repeat never - going to do something like this again.
I just want to tidy up my house and finish writing Crystal Clear this course is so dull it's driving me to chocolate.

House beautiful

Phew, it's hard work this new carpet business. The bedroom looks very beautiful now, even though we still have tons of stuff to put back in the cupboards. Somehow the carpet ended up with us buying new curtains, cushions, bedlinen and a new headboard too. The rest of the house is still upside down as of course we had to stash stuff everywhere when we emptied our room and even though the charity shop has acquired three big bags full of stuff and we've taken loads to the tip there still seems to be more.
I must get the rest of my course work done this weekend too. I'm hoping to get it finished before I help my jobshare partner present a piece to a conference on Monday. Once that's out of the way i can hopefully get on with Crystal clear which is now slipping behind schedule (my schedule, that is, not my publishers - but if I can't get on it won't be done and polished the way I like in time for June)
Mr Nell is planning to take the belles off next weekend in the tourer for the weekend to get the van ready for our Easter break so hopefully a whole weekend of blissful writing awaits me in the near future.

Clearing and cleaning

Tomorrow we're having a new carpet in our bedroom so today Mr Nell and I have been emptying cupboards and drawers ready to move the furniture for the fitters. Isn't it amazing what you find? I found pictures of me and Mr Nell on our honeymoon which caused Boo to roll around the floor laughing, belts that Mr Nell would certainly never wear again and various vintage items including my storm cap that formed part of my uniform when I was a student nurse.
I moved all the belles christening clothes and shawls and the handmade quilts that I stitched for each of them when I was pregnant. I also discovered four brand new white cotton pillowcases in their wrappers that we'd been given as wedding gifts (twenty four years ago)
I thinned out my book collection which had been spilling out onto the floor with Mr Nell shaking his head in disbelief at the amount of books I manage to fit on two quite small shelves (he didn't realise I'd double stacked them)
Next step will be moving the furniture tomorrow and taking up the old carpet - can't wait to see the new one down. It's really nice and a different colour so the room will look totally different.

A you've been framed moment

Today I went to a place near Blackpool with a group of colleagues to look at a commercial site that might be interesting to us. We had a lovely, if chilly visit (the wind was blowing right off the sea) and then we set back. We'd hired a nice twenty five seater coach so there was lots of room and our driver pulled into Charnock services to get more diesel. As he opened the hydrolic lift up hatch to access the fuel cap there was an almighty clang and half of the panel hit the deck.
There we were, no tools, and a metal panel dragging on the floor. A friendly coach driver attacked it with pliers and a socket set to try and either get the arm to retract so we could fix the panel back or unhook it so we could take it off. Nothing - no joy.
Then one of our colleagues flagged down a man with a van full of tools.
'I can soon fix that for you' said he.
He went to the van and we heard the vroom vroom of a petrol driven motor and he hacked the panel off with a chain saw - grinding noises and sparks flying on the petrol station forecourt right next to a tank that had just been filled with diesel.
Hmmm, we left very quickly once the panel was in the boot.

Wow

Star Mag review

Wow! I mean, just wow! I know, I need to get over myself

Happy Mother's Day

To all the UK mum's. The belles have just presented me with a lovely cuddly girl bunny rabbit in a pretty pink dress from the Bear Factory and in honour of Animal Instincts they called her Clodagh on her birth certificate. I'll try and get a pic later and put it up for you. She'll look very sweet in my revamped bedroom when it's done. I'm having new carpet fit in my bedroom on Friday and I've new bedlinen - need to see if the budget will stretch to new curtains or getting the old ones cleaned.
I'm not looking forward to moving everything out of the room and getting the old carpet up but the new carpet is all soft and silky with a long pile. That probably means I'll be forever losing the backs from my earrings in the shagpile but it looked so lovely and luxurious I'm sure it'll be worth it.

Sunshine!

The weather at the moment is lovely, not that I've seen a great deal of it as I'm still buried under work. I'm hoping to get my course work finished this week and then to make my schedule I need to write one chapter of Crystal Clear and one of A Scattering of Leaves to meet my target for this month.
The crows of doubt have been pecking really hard at me this week despite the lovely review from Star magazine and I've been having a wobble over whether Crystal Clear is working. Logically I know I had the same crisis over Animal Instincts but even so it's hard to shake off those 'I am crap' feelings.
I'm sure I'll get over it, I am the worlds worst judge of my own work so I'll press on and finish, polish and let my editor be the judge of the level of my crapitude. The plot for my next story - Just Look at Me Now is forming nicely in my head and I'm starting to itch to begin it so I think that may be adding to my mood.
I think I need some sunshine - and seaside. I desperately miss the sea when I haven't been for a while and I think my Easter holiday to the New Forest will do a lot to pick me up.

Animated Brilliance!

Just click on the link below, then click on play, then leave the mouse alone, sit back and enjoy a piece of creative brilliance. I wonder who had time to do this and how did they do it? Just amazing

Amazing!

busy, busy, busy

I don't seem to know if I'm coming or going at the moment. Life is so busy with the day job, all the belles commitments and this **** course I'm doing that I feel completely wrecked. I did have the pleasure of a new Jessica Hart book to read at the weekend though which was absolutely fab and I have still to read Phillipa Ashley's It should have been me.
I think I may have to reserve that as a carrot to get me through the writing up for all this course work.

One step forward..

I managed almost 2.5k yesterday on Crystal Clear so that was good but then today is eaten up with errands and appointments. Who scheduled Mother's day, my friends birthday, my parents and my in laws wedding anniversaries and my father-in-laws birthday so close together?
I still need to make time for a post office run and I have to take the eldest belle to the podiatrist as she inherited my curly toes and one of them is causing a real problem with her ballet.
Never mind - maybe tonight I'll get an hour or so to finish a chapter.

Writing

I finished the first batch of work for my course so today I'm writing Crystal Clear. I'm so behind where I want to be at the moment and the story is eating away at me demanding to be written. I'm getting a few messages now from people who've read Animal Instincts - thank you all so much for the lovely comments. I'm glad you like it.
Now - back to work!

on course

The day job have sent me on this course, as you know. The amount of work entailed is horrendous and I've very little time to get it done especially as I'm so close to finishing the first draft of Crystal Clear. It doesn't help when the subject matter of the course is so dreary. I'd much rather spend time with Zee and Drew in Brixham where the sun is shining and the bad guy has reappeared - sigh. So if I'm a little scarcer around the tinternet over the next couple of weeks you'll know why.

school victory

Those of you who stop by regularly will remember my rantette a little while ago about the Belle's school and the councils idea of having an academy.
Guess what... no go on guess.... why is not going to go ahead? What has the council discovered? Yes, they'd be expected to pay, huge large chunks of cash and why did the council want the academy in the first place? Yep, they have no money.
In other words they thought they'd get a fancy new building for free, never mind the upheavel the wishes of the pupils, parents, staff, houses around the site etc and now they've been told that actually it's not free - it's humungously expensive. Well, duh, did they think that creepy bloke came by those teeth and his orange tan cheaply?
So now they've managed to get back on the building schools for the future list under priority so it's watch this space - but for now all is well.
Now if we could just persuade the head teacher to stay we'd be popping champagne.

Happy Dancing

Many thanks to Sandra who emailed me to say Animal Instincts has a 5 star review in Star magazine!!!
They said 'it's a brilliantly fun read that will have you hooked.'
I must pop out and get a copy of the magazine, it will help me battle the attacks of the crows while I finish writing Crystal Clear.

Winners!!!!

Drum roll please....
All the winners need to contact me at helen @nelldixon. com (minus spaces) and give me your snail mail addys. I'll be mailing prizes out on Friday.

Winner of a copy of The Honey Trap - donated by author Julie Cohen
Barbara

Winner of copy of Animal Instincts (there were so many entries for this I've picked two)
Bronwyn P
Kate H

Winner of The Farmer Needs a Wife - Maddie Moon

Door Prizes - surprise goodies!
Sue M
Jeannie
Adelle L
Julie Day

Congratulations to all the winners.

Time, please

Hi All, just to let you know all the contests are now closed. I'll be reading through and taking all the names so I can do the prize draws - expect the winners lists shortly. Thanks to everyone who stopped by this week and all of you who commented. Huge thanks to all the Little Black dress authors who've been so fabulous and supportive. And here's one more excerpt from Animal Instincts to keep you all busy while I work out who's won what.

THIS SCENE IS CLODAGH'S FUTILE VISIT TO THE BANK TO EXTEND HER LOAN
I managed to park fairly close to the bank and sprinted down the high street as fast as I could in a pencil skirt and high heels. The elderly cashier on the information desk gave me a suitably frosty look and stared pointedly at the clock on the wall when I gasped out details of my appointment.
After being informed that Mr Curzon was a very busy man I was shown to the seat of shame in full view of a line of customers, where I had to wait for the great man to deign to see me. It was another ten minutes before he emerged from a little cubicle which bore the legend ‘Customer Service Suite’ on the frosted glass.
I followed him into the room and did my best to look as tall as I possibly could. I’d read this article that said tall people were more successful, and that at any formal interview a woman should wear heels to gain an advantage over the interviewer. Since Mr Curzon wasn’t particularly blessed in the height department I’d thought I’d give it a shot. The customer service suite proved to be as miserable and uncomfortable as the meeting.
Mr Curzon installed me on an old-fashioned wooden straight-backed chair on one side of the desk while he took the plush comfy leather-faced swivel throne on the other side. He adjusted his half-moon spectacles to maximum advantage for intimidation and began.
The interview – if you could call it that – didn’t last very long. The word ‘interview’ implies some kind of two-way communication, but this was more of a statement. Mr Curzon was the one making the statement. It went something along the lines of ‘you need a large cash injection in the next three months or the bank will call in your mortgage’. I don’t recall saying very much at all. Mr Curzon wasn’t interested in listening when I tried to speak and I’m sure I heard him snort when I mentioned my business plan. His only suggestion was that I ‘liquidise some of my assets’, in other words sell some land.
It didn’t help when I emerged from the cubicle to find that the bank was deserted except for Jack, who was leaning across the customer information counter and positively flirting with the old dragon behind the glass.
“Hi gorgeous. Bit of a change from this morning?” His eyes crinkled at the corners as he looked me up and down. My heart gave a funny little squeeze of pleasure when his gaze lingered on my legs.
Mr Curzon slithered out from behind me to shake Jack’s hand. “Mr Thatcher, delighted you could call in. Please come through to my office.”
Much to my annoyance, Jack had the cheek to wink at me as he strolled past to join Mr Curzon. “Love that eighties vibe,” he murmured in my ear.
It was a good job Mr Curzon was between us or I would have slugged Jack with my business folder. Jack got the invite to the office, I got the customer service suite, that said everything about the difference in our status with the bank.
(C) Nell Dixon 2009

Contests!!!!

Okay, the party will be winding up tomorrow - Monday.
Door Prize winners - I will be drawing these for surprise goodies from all the comments left throughout the week.
To win a copy of Animal Instincts - vote dog v cat - which do you vote top and why.
To win a copy of Julie Cohen's Honey Trap - comment saying Hi Julie or on her Girl from Mars excerpt post.
To win a copy of The Farmer Needs a Wife by Janet Gover - leave a comment here or Hi Janet under her excerpt.

My thanks to all the Little Black Dress authors who have so generously sent excerpts and comments to make the party so much fun. I'll be back tomorrow with another excerpt from Animal Instincts and to post the winners at the end of the day (GMT 6pm)

Blog Party 7 - more excerpts and a new prize

Todays special guest is currently a long way away but is stopping by to offer a copy of the Farmer Needs A Wife. To be in with a chance to win just leave her a comment under this post.
Welcome to Janet Gover!
It's great to join in your party. I'm in Australia, and haven't had a chance to pick up Animal Instincts yet, but am looking forward to getting it when I get back to the UK.

I'm researching my next book while I'm here. Australia is full of fabulous people and places.. it's the greatest fun writing books set here. Here's an excerpt from The Farmer Needs A Wife – which was released here in Australia this week. It should give you a bit of an idea about why I keep coming back… both in real life and in my books.



(Donna is an Eglish schoolteacher on a working holiday in Australia. Her visa is about to run out, and she's facing the prospect of leaving the sunshine behind and returning to a cold, grey London winter.)


"Donna, I've found it."
"Found what?" Donna walked into the living room, where her flatmate had just arrived back from the local store with fresh croissants for their breakfast.
"The answer to your problem." Cathy always sounded enthusiastic about everything, but her voice seemed even more excited than usual.
"Which problem might that be?" Donna asked.
Cathy flung herself onto the couch and started digging inside a plastic shopping back that seemed far too big for breakfast for two. "You want to stay here, don't you? After your visa expires?"
"Of course I do," Donna dropped into an armchair opposite her friend. "I love it here. But I am not eligible for resident's status. You know that."
"You would be if you were married!" Cathy announced.
"That's true. But …"
"Ta da!" With a dramatic flourish, Cathy thrust an open magazine at Donna. "The answer to all your problems!"
'Farmers Looking for a Wife' the headline declared. Donna ran her eyes over the first few lines, then looked up at Cathy's expectant face. "You are kidding," she said.
"It's the perfect solution," Cathy insisted.
"No, it's not!" Donna wasn't going to let this continue. "I am not going to be a mail order bride for some outback farmer."
"They're not all from the outback," Cathy pointed out. "There's a very cute one who grows vegetables in the Brisbane valley."
"No."
"It's close to the coast. You'd be able to come and stay with us on weekends."
"With or without this mythical husband?" Donna chuckled. "I have to leave for work soon. Let's have breakfast."
"You'd be a cinch to catch a good one." Cathy carried the shopping bag into the kitchen behind her. "You're pretty. Great figure. Blue eyes. As for your hair – it's gorgeous! Everyone loves your accent. You're smart, too."
"I'm not interested." Donna flicked the power on the electric kettle and reached for the coffee mugs.
"You could send that great photo of you in the bikini on the beach. That would be sure to get an answer.
"I wouldn't send that one. It would give the wrong impression and anyway," Donna hurried on, "I'm not interested."
"You should be."
"How many times do I have to say no? Do you want honey or jam on your croissant?"
"Stop changing the subject," Cathy lay the open magazine on the table where they would be eating breakfast. "How about a cane farmer from Townsville?"
Donna laughed. "No!" Cathy could talk her into almost anything. But not this time.

Blog Party 7

Hi All, The contests are still rolling, more excerpts to come later today. Post your cat v dog entries and also comments on Girl From Mars for your chance to win. Here are some pics from yesterday so you can see what went on at Merry Hill.

This is Phillipa Ashley and me with Josie, the lovely manageress of Waterstones who organised everything so beautifully. Huge thanks to her and her team for all their hard work.

Posing for the press. Two press teams turned up making us feel like real celebrities. This was thanks to Josie and Westfield, the company who own the Merry Hill Centre who used their press office.

With Lizzie Lamb, an RNA member who travelled from Leicester to see us. Thanks to Emma who came all the way from North Wales and Hilary who came from Surrey. We were so touched that you all went to so much trouble and we had the best time meeting you all.

With Jessica, my amazing and talented Critique partner.

With Shelley and Jo, two lovely readers.