For me this has been a week of dramatically conflicting emotions. Firstly, Daughter is driving me crazy! She is completely and utterly ready for school, she is a sponge for information and she is literally sucking me dry. But of course, she is my little girl and watching her go off to school means that she will no longer be spending 24 hours a day in my care. Torn. That is how I feel.

And here is the worst part – for the first time in her life I am no longer going to be the major influence. Up until now, almost everything Daughter has learnt has been taught to her by me (and I guess I should give my hubby a little bit of a mention here too). I taught her the alphabet, how to dress herself, how to open a tub of yogurt, how to spell her name, how to skip and hop and jump. But now there are others whose job it is to teach my daughter, not to mention all her new found friends. And what about peer pressure and bullying and all the other influences out in the big wide world?

Stop. Deep breath. It is only the second day of Kindergarten!

The last few days emotions have run high in our household, but I am proud to say that neither Daughter nor I have shed a single tear over our separation. But the dramatic turns of this week aren’t over yet.

On Friday, not only will Daughter be heading off to her 5th day of Kindy, but Son will be going to his first day of preschool and then for the first time in over 5 years I will be left with 6 whole hours every week with no children in my care. Whether or not Son is ready for preschool remains to be seen, although he does finally seem to have gotten a handle on using the toilet (after a mammoth 15 months of toilet training it eventually sunk in, but that is fodder for another post!) I just have to cross my fingers and toes that he doesn’t decide to go into meltdown mode.

While I am here bothering to write a blog post I thought I would quickly update you all on how I am going with my Resolutions for 2012 (see here for the list) given that today is the last day of January. My attempts to watch 50 movies and read 50 books are well ahead of schedule, particularly the reading, in January I read 18 books! I have managed to keep up with my exercise too. In fact, the only thing that is lacking is writing. I have started editing Soul Hunter but really need to pull my finger out and get into it full-time. Perhaps it will give me something to do with those free 6 hours a week!

What about you? Have you kept up with your Resolutions? Have you experienced the emotional turmoil of sending a child off to school? Do you remember your own first day of school? I love to hear from you.

Jody Moller

Amazon Breakkthrough Novel Award

Amazon’s breakthrough novel award is now open for submissions. Check it out.

A Series of Unfortunate Events, follows the story of Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire following the death of their parents in a fire. As the title states they undergo many ‘Unfortunate Events’ as they are placed with one useless guardian after the other, all the while being stalked by Count Olaf who wishes to get his hands on the childrens’ inheritance.

There was one simple reason I found these books so enjoyable and that was the unique and hilarious narration provided by Lemony Snicket. These books are written in the 2nd person - you know that one we are told to never use. Not only that the author is constantly defining words as he uses them, I am sure another absolute no, no for an author but here it works so well (particularly when the definitions are not quite right). Another advantage of writing a novel from the perspective of a fictional narrator is that the narrator can of course be integrally linked to the story (along with a number of his family members).

Unfortunately there is a ‘but’ that I need to insert here. Once again the ending just didn’t cut it. (If you missed my last post on endings that didn’t cut it you can find it here). Maybe I am just too picky, but I feel that when an author generates a complicated world with dozens of different sub-stories, we the reader deserve to have all those loose ends tied up. I won’t give the ending away here, save to say that there were so many story lines with no definitive end, that had I been reading with a traditional book instead of a Kindle I may well have thrown it across the room in frustration. Perhaps, if we are lucky, the four new books that Lemony Snicket is publishing later this year may answer some of these questions.

It really is a shame that the movie franchise never took off. The first and only movie (which incorporates books 1-3) is worth a viewing if only to watch Jim Carrey embody the evil Olaf to perfection.

Excluding the disappointing ending I found these books very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very enjoyable (if you haven’t read the books, sorry you don’t get my joke, if you have read the books, sorry, I just couldn’t help myself). And I would recommend them to anyone, young or old, who enjoys a good laugh (and yes I did laugh aloud reading these books).

Have you read these books? Did you enjoy them? Did you feel the ending let you down? Are there any other books/series that you feel let you down at the end? I always love hearing from you.

Jody Moller

Well let it be known that this year shall be different!

Sure, I have said that before as well. But this year I have one thing that I haven’t had in previous years – I have a plan! I am not simply going to create a list of unspecific goals such as ‘I will lose weight’, though heaven knows I need to! Instead I will keep it simple, ‘I will exercise for 3 x 1 hr sessions per week’. In fact, I am going to get even more specific than that. I was lucky enough to get an XBOX Kinect from Santa for Christmas so my goal will be to ‘play’ Just Dance 3 on my XBOX for 3 x 1 hr sessions per week – because let’s face it prancing around my lounge room in a slightly demented fashion, doesn’t really feel like exercise.

Of course there are other goals other than just ‘exercising’. I also want to read more, and write more and you know – enjoy life more.

For the reading part I have decided to try and complete the 50 books and 50 movies challenge. I am not sure where I first heard about it so unfortunately I can’t leave a link here but I read it somewhere and it stuck, so I am going to try and read a book and watch a movie every week for a whole year. To encourage me to continue this I will include in my blog posts each week what books/movies I have consumed during the past week and I will create a new page with an ongoing list.

As for writing I am going to continue to participate in the ROW80 challenges for 2012 ( I know I have missed the start of the current round but I will try and catch up soon). It is too broad to list writing goals for the entire year so by joining in with ROW80 I can generate more specific goals. I will include these ‘specific’ goals for the first ROWnd of this year in my next post.

And that is it for this year’s resolutions:

1. Exercise 3 x 1hrs per week

2. Read 1 book and watch 1 movie per week

3. Participate in all 4 rounds of ROW80

Well hang on just a minute! We are already almost a week into 2012 so I should be able to tick off the first week of goals already! Right?

*anxious pause*

Just kidding. I am going great guns.

1. I have already done 2 of my 3 hrs of exercise (the final one to be completed tonight once the kids are in bed and hubby is at work)

2. Not only did I watch a movie, I actually managed to go to the cinema to see one. Hubby and I went to see The Adventures of Tin Tin and I absolutely loved it and would highly recommend it to anyone. Continuing the action/adventure theme I read Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days (on my brand new Kindle touch which I am absolutely in love with!). Oh yeah, and I also read Book 1 and Book 2 of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Which puts me at 3 novels completed and we are only at the 7th of the month.

3. True I haven’t done any writing yet, but I will sign up to ROW80 tonight and get my butt into gear I promise!

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL. And best of luck with your own resolutions. Do you have any? Do you have a plan? As always, I love hearing from you.

Jody Moller

But now I am back in Australia, and back to the real world where I have to cook and clean and can’t drop everything and head to Disneyland when the mood strikes me. Unfortunately this also means that I completely failed in my attempts at the current round of ROW80. I wrote, not a word, and I haven’t even begun reading my draft of Soul Hunter, let alone begun to edit it. Which finds me here, writing this blog post, trying to get the cogs turning so I can get my motivation back.

Of course it is Christmas so I have decided that as a welcome back present (and because I have had a few requests for it) I will post the recipes for my Salted Caramel and White Choc Peppermint fudge. If you don’t like salt I recommend that you leave the salt off the salted-caramel fudge.

So without further ado, here are the recipes. I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas full of joy, laughter and great food (and lots of good pressies – my brand new Kindle touch is sitting under my Christmas tree mocking me as I write this). If you try the recipes make sure you check back here and let me know how it went.

Choc-Peppermint Fudge

395g can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup caster sugar

2 tablespoons glucose syrup

125g butter, chopped

4 drops green food colouring

1 teaspoon peppermint essence

180g white chocolate, finely chopped

50g dark chocolate, chopped

4 small candy canes, chopped

1. Place condensed milk, sugar, syrup and butter in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, without boiling, for 10 minutes or until mixture is glossy and sugar has dissolved.
2. Tint mixture green with food colouring. Add essence. Increase heat to medium-low. Bring to a simmer, stirring. Cook, stirring constantly, for 6 to 8 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Stir in white chocolate until combined and melted.
3. Spoon into 20cm x 20cm pan lined with aluminium foil/baking paper. Smooth top. Set aside for 30 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
4. Cut into pieces. Top each piece with a small amount of melted dark chocolate and chopped candy canes.

Salted Caramel Fudge

395g can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons glucose syrup

¼ cup golden syrup

125g butter, chopped

180g white chocolate, finely chopped

1 teaspoon sea salt flakes

1. Place condensed milk, sugar, glucose syrup, golden syrup and butter in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, without boiling, for 10 minutes or until mixture is glossy and sugar has dissolved.
2. Increase heat to medium-low. Bring to a simmer, stirring. Cook, stirring constantly, for 6 to 8 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Stir in white chocolate until combined and melted.
3. Spoon into 20cm x 20cm pan lined with aluminium foil/baking paper. Smooth top. Sprinkle with salt. Set aside for 30 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
4. Cut into pieces.

Cheers and Merry Christmas

Jody Moller

How did I go during the first full week of ROW80 Round 4?

First with the good news – the first draft of Soul Hunter is FINISHED!!! Yay. Such a great feeling. It came out at just over 73000 words (I was aiming for 75K so not too bad).

I also managed to complete the first lecture in Margie Lawson’s Empowering Characters’ Emotions lectures. Though I haven’t yet discussed the details or assignments with my study partner, Crystal Cipriani (blame the internet again) I will get around to it soon.

On the not so good news I didn’t manage to write my two blog posts (again I am going to blame my lack of internet… are you beginning to see a pattern here?) and I also didn’t do as much exercise as I would have liked .

Back to good news again – tomorrow I am heading overseas (I am sure that a 14 hour flight with a 3 yr old and a 5 yr old will be worthy of its own blog post so will probably be hearing more about it next week) I am super excited. Disneyland here I come :)

Hope you have had a good week and I promise next week I am going to exercise…

No writing tips from me today but they will be back next week – perhaps you have a tip for me in the meantime, I always love to hear from you.

Jody Moller

I have managed to write 2000 words on Soul Hunter over the past 3 days – so pretty happy on that front. And I am more than half-way through the first of Margie’s lectures on Empowering Characters’ Emotions. As part of that lecture I discovered that I am a left-brain dominant (pretty much already knew that and the fact that I got excited when I read that I was going to be allowed to use 5 different coloured highlighters for my editing also kind of gave it away ).

On the down side, three days in and I have done zero exercise (plus I have attended two kids parties in the past two days and have consumed heaps of junk food ).

Each week at my ROW80 check-in I have decided to include a writing tip, some will be obvious ones that we all know, some, perhaps will be new to you and might help you with your writing. So this weeks tip is ‘SHOW DON”T TELL’ an oldie but a goodie. Often we show AND tell, but don’t mistake the reader for a fool, they probably already know that the man that is slamming his fists against the table is angry or the woman that runs her tongue delicately across her lips is suggesting her sexual availability. Show it, don’t tell it!

I hope ROW80 is treating you well so far.

Jody Moller

Goals for Round 4:

1. Finish 1st Draft of Soul Hunter - Despite my original plans to finish the first draft of Soul Hunter over the break, I decided to have a rest instead so Goal 1 is to finish that first draft (I only have two chapters – about 6000 words – to go!). I am hoping to complete this during the first week (in a little over a week I am heading overseas for a few months and I want to have it finished before I go) so here’s hoping!
2. Complete ‘Empowering Characters’ Emotions’ Lectures - I have purchased Margie Lawson’s lecture packet on Empowering Characters’ Emotions and along with my iCrit pal Crystal Cipriani I will be attempting to complete a lecture a week over the course of ROW80.
3. Critique for the iCrit girls – During Round 3 I met three amazing women, Crystal Cipriani, Ozlem Yikici and Lena Corazon and we formed a group known as iCrit. I am planning to set aside AT LEAST 1 hour a week to devoted to critiquing their work.
4. Edit my first novel, Ankhari – I have no idea how long this is going to take so I am going to plan to edit 50 pages a week (but that might change as I have no idea how achievable this will be particularly as I will be overseas for pretty much the entire Round).
5. Write 2 blog posts per week – The current plan is one ROW80 check-in post and one other post, but with all my entirely ambitious goals we will see how we go.
6. EXERCISE!!! – Okay so this is the most ambitious of all but the apartments we are staying at in Los Angeles have a gym so I really don’t have my usual excuses. 3 times a week or bust!

Oh Dear! I have 6 goals, how the hell did that happen? I was planning on taking it easy compared to last round.

Are you participating in Round 4 of ROW80? Do you have no idea what ROW80 is and would like to find out? (ps click here) Are you being overly ambitious with your goals too?

By the way don’t forget the ROW80 party on the 5th of October, gather at the #ROW80 hashtag on Twitter. For more info refer to Jenny’s blog.

Looking forward to catching up with all of you over the next few months.

Jody Moller

Okay so on with the summary.

At the beginning of Round 3 I stated that my goal was writing 500 words a day on my WIP ’The Soul Hunter’ for 80 days (if you remember I also put in a clause that if I was ahead in my word count I could miss a day). Which means that at the end of the 80 days I should have written (come on I know you can work it out ) 40,000 words.

I will break the challenge down into two parts. For me the most challenging part was always going to be the ‘writing everyday’ bit. Sadly I didn’t succeed in writing everyday, across the 80 days I missed 2 days. The first of those days was spent trying to get my laptop to work when my hard drive failed and the second day was the next day when I was crying over the 4000 words of Soul Hunter that I lost when my hard drive failed. But apart from those two, slightly exceptional days, I wrote at least 500 words everyday, I even managed to borrow a computer for the week my computer was in the shop being fixed so I could keep writing. And I now back up my work everyday!

As for the 500 words a day – well I kicked its butt! Soul Hunter was at 6500 words when the challenge began and I am now at 66,646 which means that I wrote 60,146 words during the course of ROW80 (I actually wrote a little over 4000 more than that, remember the hard drive failure, but I am trying not to dwell on that too much). And the best bit is that I only have 2 chapters remaining on Soul Hunter and the first draft will be finished With a bit of luck another week and I should be there.

Overall I am completely chuffed with my progress with an average of 750 words a day I did better than I could have imagined.

Of course, I will also be signing up for Round 4 of ROW80 which is due to start on Oct 4th (running through to Dec 22). If you are contemplating joining in make sure you go to the ROW80 website and check out the rules. In the next round I am going to be a bit easier on myself, as I will be on holidays and don’t want to tie myself down to writing everyday but I will still be participating.

Also, if you were a participant in the current round, or if you are contemplating the next round make sure you come along to the ROW80 Twitter party hosted by Jenny Hansen on Oct 5. Check out her website for details.

Once again a big thankyou to all the people that cheered me on, particularly when my computer fried, all your words of encouragement really helped.

Jody Moller

So I thought a piece of flash fiction I wrote a few months back entitled ‘Tick Tock’ might be appropriate. It had been submitted to a contest through the Creative Competitor website. Sadly, I didn’t win the competition but I still love the story and I hope you do to.

The rules were that the story had to be a maximum of 250 words and had to revolve around a pocket watch. So without further ado here it is (oh and my ROW80 word counts for the week are at the bottom, make sure you check them out because they are awesome – if I may say so myself).

Tick Tock

Tick. Tock. My heart pounded out a congruent rhythm.

‘The watch is the clue.’ Those had been his words. But I couldn’t see it. To me it looked like an ordinary pocket watch. Ornate, old, tarnished. I turned it over in my hand.

Tick. Tock.

The hands were moving too fast. Time was running out.

How did it come to this? Here in this square, white room, the stench of disinfectant almost overpowering.

Rhetorical question. I knew how I got here. The sins of my past were a series of stepping stones leading to this inevitable end.

‘The watch is the clue.’

I resigned myself to the fact that I would never know the answer, closed my eyes and listened to the last few minutes of my life ticking away.

No wait, that was it!

Time. Time was the clue. Not the watch.

To be more precise, the passing of time.

Time heals all wounds. That’s what he’d meant. He was telling me that he forgave me my sins. Unforgivable as my sins were. He forgave me.

Another tick.

With an audible beep the plungers on all four syringes began their automated journey. Apple green liquid snaked its way towards my manacled hand.

I looked down at the watch, given to me by the father of my victim. A final absolution of my sins. Somehow its presence provided me with strength, quenched my fear.

Another tock.

I tightened my fingers around the pocket watch. It would all be over soon.

ROW80 Weekly Update

Thurs – 1031

Fri – 603

Sat – 1142

Sun – 1406

Mon – 1117

Tues – 1214

Wed – 1782

Yes that’s right people, this week I have written 8295 words on Soul Hunter

I was determined to come home at a full sprint and I still have a full day to go.

I will post a full review of all I have acheived over the course of ROW80 once it is all over (probably on Friday) Tomorrow I am hoping to do very little other than write, write, write!!! [except Son has had a temp all day today and husband heads of overseas tommorrow and I have to make cupcakes for Daughters last ever day at preschool, but still I am going to try and write as much as I can]

I hope you have all had a great week and I don’t forget that words written on the last day still count! Oh yeah and make sure you leave a comment and tell me if you liked my story

Jody Moller