Romance Writing

A lovely day yesterday with seven of us getting together for our monthly Waikato/BOP Romance Writers meeting. It's always so inspiring to spend time with other writers - always something new to learn. One of our members, Helen, has an extensive background in fashion design and she talked about fashion through the ages - fascinating for all of us, but especially for those working on historical fiction. Who used to wear what in the 'olden days'? What were garments actually called? What fabrics were available?

Now I must knuckle down and write something . . .

Writing a Screenplay!

My friend Layla from MovieTime has entered the 48 hour Furious Film-making competition and has invited me to be one of the writers on her screenplay team. Never written a play or screenplay so this is very exciting! It's totally serious stuff. We have to put together a short film (1 - 7 minutes) beginning Friday night May 8 and ending Sunday night May 10. Don't know the genre until Friday night. I've been researching writing for screen and finding it fascinating - it will have to be very succinct - hopefully we don't get animation or musicals!

Watched a DVD last night called Far North with Sean Bean, one of my favourite actors. I love movies about the frozen north but this one didn't deliver. Fabulous cinematography - the scenery is absolutely stunning. The end was gruesome and disturbing and would have been fine if it had brought storyline and characterisation together but it fell way short. Read my review of Far North on Suite101 (I might have been a bit harsh!). Special personal rant: Michelle Yeoh's beautiful youthful complexion after supposedly spending all her supposedly middle-aged life exposed to the elements of the polar climate.

New Articles on Suite101

Have posted a few new articles on Suite101, most recently New Zealand: Country of Colour and Light and one on New Zealand Travel. I love writing about New Zealand. It's interesting that my most viewed Suite101 articles are one on the Monet exhibition in Wellington and another on my friend Janet Keen, who is a mosaic artist in Rotorua.

We have a fabulous day here today, Easter Friday - a wonderful time to be taking some photographs for other stories.

Made some progress on my new romance - I can say that I've got past the beginning!

So far I haven't sold any art from my exhibition at a local cafe - but have had some good comments. I'm not at all disheartened - it's been a very useful learning experience for me and has encouraged me to think about how to display and sell my work in future.