![[icon]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/3952360/902069) |
Ponyboy63's Journal
|
| | Security: | | | Subject: | OK then... | | Time: | 11:30 am | | Current Mood: |  accomplished |
|
| I've finally done it.
I finished the last chapter late last night.
12 chapters.
74,000 words.
That's a fucking relief.
My stars said today that I would be doing something creative... like painting a masterpiece or submitting a manuscript for publishing!
Very timely I thought.
I wonder if submitting a manuscript for editing is the same thing? Because that's where I'm at right now. | comments: 6 comments or Leave a comment   |
| | Security: | | | Subject: | Ahhhh... | | Time: | 12:57 pm | | Current Mood: |  chipper |
|
| Another glorious New England autumn day here today. Would be even better if I had the time to be out enjoying it, but unfortunately there be stuff that needs doing... (isn't there always?)
Happy Mothers Day to all the Mothers out there. I hope you have a good day.
We're taking my mother out for dinner tonight apparently. lol
After spending a week away and not even having time to think about doing any writing I have managed to get back into the swing of things again this week and have now gone past the point where I thought I would have the new story all wrapped up.
I had been working on about 10 chapters and up to about 65,000 words in total... I'm now on Chapter 11 and have just about reached 70,000 words. I ended up having to do a slight re-write of the ending that I had written earlier, and am now just piecing together the bulk of the story and the ending (I thought that it needed one last twist before the finish - that's why the extra chapter). ;)
After that the editing needs to be finished, then once the whole thing is put together and I have the chance to re-read it in it's entirety (plus hopefully have a couple of other people beta-read for me... any volunteers???) there will be a few bits and pieces that I think will need fixing up etc. before the final version is ready to be sent out there.
I've really enjoyed working on this one. Once it has been put to bed I guess I'll have to get some of the other unfinished ones finalised.
Anyhoo... I better go do some work...
I hope it's a great day wherever you are!
| | comments: Leave a comment |
| Oh boy... that was an interesting week. I've just come home from spending a week running a National Championship horse show in a town that I lived and worked in a number of years ago.
Long days and a few long nights as well, but overall everything went very well, with very few major issues to worry about. Having professional horse trainers come up to congratulate and thank me for how it went when it was all over was quite satisfying. Of course there were all the usual hiccups and little things that went wrong, as to be expected, but much of that was out of my hands as it was the organising committee's job to have had all that sorted before the show even began.
Anyhow, everything went quite smoothly and the comments we have received on Facebook have all been very positive, so that's a good sign. AND they want me to go back again next year, so I guess things must have been all good then.
The only real down side is that today I've really hit the wall... I'm totally exhausted at the moment and I think I need a week off work to get over my week off work! LOL
At the moment my feet are being held together by Band Aids, my legs feel like I've just walked the Kokoda Track and my back is aching, but I guess that will all pass after a few nights in my own bed. Or at least I'm hoping so. ;)
As I mentioned, I lived in that town a number of years ago... for about three years after I finished high school... so before I hit the road yesterday to come home I decided to have a drive around and visit some of my old haunts... which proved quite interesting. For some reason everything seems so much smaller now... except the town itself which I could see has really spread out (I went up to the lookout for a birds eye view).
The small flat I lived in at first is still there, though the tree on the footpath in front of it is much larger now and obscures most of it. The other granny flat (converted garage in the back yard of one of my workmates) is also still there, but seems to have shrunk in size! (lol) (I moved from one to the other after the first flat was broken into twice).
I went into the department store I worked in and the entire section I worked in (automotive) is now baby wear and the auto section is now just one aisle in the store... the shopping centre has been remodelled and is looking much better than I remember it... the cafe's I used to visit have changed or disappeared... the main street of the town is now looking quite spectacular with trees and landscaping all along it... the drive-in movies are now a housing estate...
One of the things that really did surprise me was the number of motels that have been built... they are everywhere, but I guess that's partly because the place is our Country Music Capitol, as well as being the host for countless equine and livestock events that are held at the new $28M indoor centre.
So, now it's back to the real world and it's time for me to catch up on everything that has been neglected for the past week (I did take my laptop with me in the hope that I would be able to get a bit done at night - but that just didn't happen!).
I just need to crawl under my desk and have a little snooze first though...... | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Security: | | | Subject: | Ok then.. | | Time: | 06:35 pm | | Current Mood: |  tired |
|
| Hi Ho... Hi Ho... it's off to the horse show I go...
See ya'll in a week or so... unless of course I can find the time to drag my laptop out while I'm down there!
Hoo-Roo! | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| What a week...
They say that things come in threes...
Heard this week that the neighbour of one of my aunties from out in western New South Wales had an accident on a farm last week and has passed away. I didn't really know him, but I remember him from when I visited out there when I was younger. In my teenage mind at the time I remember him as being a scary dude! (lol) He was about 10 years older than me and my cousin I think and was a typical rough Aussie bushie... a bit wild and wooly!
Then we heard that one of my mothers 1st cousins from Queensland passed away from cancer a couple of days ago. I think he was only 55 or something like that. Not old at all really. Very sad. I didn't know him at all.
THEN... we heard that a friend through one of the local riding clubs who used to live here (but who moved away after she split up from her husband a number of years ago) had an accident off a horse not long ago and has been in a coma for a couple of weeks. They are apparently turning off her life support system this week (unless they have done it already!). The sad thing about this case is that her ex-husband passed away only about a month or so ago as well, so now their kids (who are grown and married themselves) have lost both parents in the space of a month or six weeks. That must be devastating for them!
It just goes to show that it can happen anywhere and anytime!
Okay then, so now I've reached 60,000 words with the new story, which I'm quite chuffed about. Just finishing off my second last chapter now, so just one to go after that I think.
Also heard back from a few people about some of my other stories, as well as the guy I mentioned last week. He has been working on his own tale, so I'm really looking forward to having a read of that at some stage.
Have been to do some more hours with my ex-employer this week and last week, which is quite helpful at the moment. It's nice having some money coming in at least... it has been a really quiet start to the year in my business, which has been a bit worrying quite frankly. Have received payment for a few of my jobs this week though, so at least I'll be able to eat again by the looks of it! (lol)
Also had a doctors appointment this week... all I wanted was a new prescription written out for the same medicine I get every time, but nooooo, I had to go in and pay for an appointment ($63 thank you very much... what a rip off!). Anyhow, I couldn't get into my usual doctor as she was busy, so I got to see the new guy... and now I think I might switch to him permanently... I was very impressed, lovely guy, very understanding and I was even able to talk to him about a couple of things that my other doc seemed to keep fobbing me off about... so in the end I think it was worthwhile my going in after all! lol
Okay then, I guess that's about enough dribble from me to keep you all bored (all one or two of you who actually read this! lol)
Time to go do something!
Tally ho! | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Security: | | | Subject: | Wow... | | Time: | 04:38 pm | | Current Mood: |  thoughtful |
|
| It has been an interesting week.
Was asked to go back to my old employer again to do some more fill in relief work for them, which is good. It's all money... and I could with some of that right about now! lol
Have managed to do some more writing, as well as get the first three chapters of my new story edited by Jerry in the US of A. I'm currently at 51,000 words, and still going... so I think it will end up at about 65,000 all up, which is respectable.
I'm still amazed every day at how sometimes it can be so easy to write, while other days it becomes a real chore. While the going is good though I intend to churn out as much as I can, because I know that sooner or later the well will run dry - for a while at least.
Also did some editing of my mate Ben's latest chapter. That's three he has posted now. I don't quite remember Pony Club as being quite so sex filled... yes, there was certainly a bit of fun that went on, but it wasn't quite like he has made it sound in the story. I see his story as being something of a melange... things that happened to a heap of different folks all rolled up and condensed into something slightly different! To be fair, he has basically said that in his introduction though.
As it is though, what he has written is a fun read! ;)
Also received a lovely email from a guy who has started reading some of my stuff. By the sound of it he is in his sixties (I haven't actually asked him how old he is in our emails so far), and grew up trying to deny his sexuality, like so many guys who grew up in rural New South Wales. From what he has told me so far his is quite a story.
It got me thinking though, about just how many guys there would be who have done the same... grown up denying their true selves, marrying not out of love but because it was 'expected'. I think it would be cool to be able to gather together their stories in one place (ie in a book), so that those who are doing the same in this day and age can learn from the mistakes and experiences of those who have already lived that life.
Hmmmmm..... | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| | Security: | | | Subject: | hahaha... | | Time: | 10:37 am | | Current Mood: |  amused |
|
| SIMPLY BRILLIANT!!!
(now all i need is for the post to work! lol)
| | comments: Leave a comment |
| OK... so I've had my Easter break, now it's back to the grind-stone once more!
Truth be known I'm grateful, as I think I would probably be about ready to kill someone if I spent another day listening to my sisters bickering kids... well, that coupled with the fact that they absolutely refuse to do anything they are asked to do! Aaarrrggghhh!!! lol
Anyhow, I guess that the Easter break wasn't all bad. Sunday we went out for a family bbq, along with some relatives and had a nice day in the bush. We had planned to go to one of the local dams, however the first one we chose wasn't open to the public (even though I found a website that said it had bbq facilities etc), then the second one we tried was absolutely packed with people camping as well as lots of folks like us.
Next we tried a spot along a creek that we knew, which also had bbq facilities, but when we got there it looked like it hadn't been used in years and the dry summer grass was about three feet high right up to the bbbq's themslevs and if we'd have lit a fire there it would have just went **whooosh** and burnt out acres and acres...
Finally we settled on another picnic / bbq area that we knew of that was even further out and thankfully there was no one there when we arrived, so in the end we were able to enjoy a rather pleasant Sunday out in the bush with family.
For the rest of the time I spent some time watching a few DVD's (absolutely LOVED Cowboys & Aliens... even though it was about as far fetched as you could possibly imagine), caught up on a few little jobs and spent some time writing (40,000+ words and counting now! lol).
So yeah... all in all it wasn't a bad weekend. The only real downer was my footy team getting beaten, but hey, you can't win 'em all! lol
OK then, so now I better go do some real work.
I hope it's a great day wherever you may be!!!
Ciao! | | comments: Leave a comment |
| ...and two steps back!
I have been working feverishly on my story these past few weeks, My 3,000 words I started with is now approaching 35,000 words on this first draft. My target is roughly 10 sections of 5,000+ words per section, so I'm looking at a minimum of 50,000 words in total.
I dug out my laptop and have been doing some work on it at home at night as well, which has certainly helped. The only trouble is though that I'm having issues with my Telstra mobile broadband card, which I figure I should be using seeing as it has been costing me $40 a month and have had the thing stuck in my cupboard with the laptop for gawd only knows how long.
Anyhow... the service is crap where I live! 3G my royal arse! It takes forever to log in to any sites... and if they happen to have a heap of photos or - heaven forbid - links to videos etc, then it takes even longer than forever. I could log into Hotmail earlier today... but not now. All I'm getting are "errors on page" messages.
I tell you, it's worse than the old dial-up I had... and that's saying something!
Tomorrow morning the easter bunny comes... got to hand out some eggs to the sisters brats who are all here for their school holidays! Two whole weeks huh? Hmmmmm...
We're heading out to one of the local dams or fishing spots for a spot of lunch and relaxation! Yeah, well, I might be able to relax if I can get far enough away! lol
Anyhow... I can't do what I want to do online tonight, thanks to my good buddies at Telstra, so I think I'll just toddle off to bed.
Happy Easter ya'll! | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Security: | | | Subject: | **yawn** | | Time: | 12:38 pm | | Current Mood: | tired |
|
| OK... so I went to the party last night... and it was actually a good night. I wasn't quite sure beforehand exactly what it was for, but soon found out that it was a dual 50th birthday party and combined house warming. We took a gift for the house warming... so I didn't feel too bad.
One of the ladies who was turning 50 (although her birthday actually isn't for a couple of months yet) was someone I worked with a while back, and is also involved in a couple of the clubs that I'm involved with. To be honest I couldn't figure out why we got the invite, because even tho I've been friends with them for many years we haven't been what you could call really close friends - but during the speeches she explained that when she looked at the guest list she noticed that most of the people were from her husbands side (the other person turning 50 was her husbands sister) and virtually no one from her own family - who aren't from around here - so she wanted some other folks there that she has been friends with for a long time... which I thought was nice.
There were also quite a few other people there that I knew (some of whom were also wondering how they scored an invite! lol), so at least there were folks there I could takl to - which is always one of the things I hate about parties... not knowing ppl!
I'm afraid I was a bit under-prepared (and underdressed) for the evening... it turned out to be a rather fancy sit down meal that was catered for by the winners of last years My Kitchen Rules TV show - Sammy and Bella!!!
It was all very posh tucker and for the most part quite tasty... but mostly way underdone for my liking... which seems to be the way with these upmarket chefs these days!
Entree included Seared Salmon... which was basically raw salmon with just the outside edges seared (YUCK - and no, I didn't have any of that! lol), then a rather nice Avocado and Asparagus salad, followed by fried Cuttlefish (very tasty).
Mains included beef (again, very underdone but otherwise not too bad - especially if you covered it with the VERY tasty Mashed Pumkin puree thingy), Orange glazed ham (yummm - but not enough of it! lol) then some baked mixed vegetables.
For this, I give them - a 6!!! (lol... that's the catchcry from the show and is supposed to be spoken with a French accent by Manu, one of the hosts! lol)
Anyhow, I had an enjoyable evening, so it was all good!
And now that daylight savings is over and we can get back to normal for a few months that is pretty good too! (Although by the time spring comes around again I will be looking forward to it returning)
Which brings me to today... and back to work it is!
Hope it's a good'n whereever you may be!
Ciao. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
|
Ponyboy63's Journal
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
ponyboy63's journal
exhausted
calm
frustrated