It's Christmas time again

It is that time of year once more.

Christmas time!!

Half the world is shrouded in a blanket of icy snow while the other half, the half I'm in, is baking under an unseasonally hot sun.

On my side of the world Christmas is associated with camping trips, outings to the beach, bbqs on the deck, ice blocks and dripping ice cream cones.

When I was growing up we often traveled 10 hours by car to the Bay of Islands to stay at my grandparent's batch (or crib, for you southerners). There we spent idyllic days splashing in the inlet, building sandcastles and clambering over the rocks looking for crabs and playing in the huge pohutakawa trees that grew right down to the beach.

Both my mother and my father's mother are English. So while others were having their kiwi Christmas bbqs my family were indulging in the huge traditional English feast. Glazed hams, roast chickens, roasted vegetables and salad, fruit puddings with custard and brandy butter, Christmas mince pies and shortbread. Yum!

The best of both worlds! Sun and great food!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, whatever side of the world you're on. May God bless you richly in the coming year.

BTW, if you haven't yet watched The Nativity Story with your family (staring NZ's very own Keisha Castle-Hughes) this is the perfect time to do so.

Just Passing Through ....

This is just a quick note as I'm passing though.

I just wanted to reassure you all that I haven't been crushed beneath a mountain of boxes - though I have come close once or twice. I'm still here, still kicking.

We're moving house this weekend. A very long and and convoluted story it is too. One I may share with you next week when I get some breathing space.

For now it is enough to say, thank God! it has all worked out. We have a house, it's the house we wanted and we are moving in. We started running a number of loads of boxes today and will move in the final large items of furniture on Monday and finally, the new place will be home.

Thanks to all of you for all your support over these last crazy few weeks. You're the best.

I'm off to get some much need sleep, hope you all have a good weekend, and I'll catch you back here for the next installment next week.

In Limbo

As you may know my family and I are in the process of moving house. We had hoped to move this weekend but due to the odd circumstances surrounding the house we are hoping lease it didn't happen.

So one way or another we'll be moving next weekend. It'll be our last chance to vacate before the new owners move in here, so stress levels are high, patience is thin and faith is being tested.

The boxes keep piling up. My towers have become teetering cardboard mountains. To be honest I'm a bit surprised none of the children have been crushed in an avalanche of boxed books, toys and kitchen paraphernalia. Still we have five days to go, so there is still time for that to happen.

And no, I still haven't written a word.

I have been thinking about my stories though. It seems the muse is stirring. No doubt it's rather hot, dark and not a little dull in that box he's been hiding in for the last month.

After much discussion and consideration I've decided to try rewriting Tremorgan's Gift in first person. I had written it in third person limited, so changing it to first person shouldn't be too much of a leap. Hopefully it'll add a little more pizazz to the story.

I'll only be changing the scenes from Tremorgan's point of view in to first person, the majority of the book. This will make it even more her story than it was before and will hopefully add a little more depth to her character. I'll able to take the reader deeper into her story - that's my hope anyway.

It'll also add a point of difference when it comes to the scenes from Drostan's (the villan) POV which will remain in third person.

My steampunk novel Mercy Me (my NaNo attempt) is also stewing away quietly in the back of my brain. I haven't forgotten my light fingered heroine and her rather weird family of eccentric secret agents.

So I'm musing and packing and sorting and cleaning and looking forward to getting settled in somewhere new and being able to get back in to the writing. Hopefully I won't have forgotten how...