Bootcamp 109

Today was our last bootcamp day. Whew! A real roller coaster ride and a very full-on workshop. Got a tonne of stuff I need to get my head around and think about. Overall, I really enjoyed it, more so because I met and chatted with people who like me, go around with 'voices' in their heads.
So ...."Yah! For Bootcampers 109".

Wordle fun...

Got this idea from Eleni Konstantine's http://eleni-konstantine.blogspot.com/ blog *wink*. It's a program called 'Wordle' and it takes words from your blog and creates an image. You can find it at http://www.wordle.net/

Very cool, and just a little bit of fun before the work starts tomorrow...

Calling Publishing Princes Everywhere

Writing ... I love.

Waiting ... I loathe.

No...not the cocktail carrying, sandwich serving kind of waiting. The gut wrenching, stomach turning, brain numbing waiting-for-writing-competition-results kind.

I think Sleeping Beauty had the right idea.

Next time I enter a contest and have to wait for the results maybe I’ll trying sleeping through it (hmmmm....an alcohol induced coma.... that rings a bell!). Then I’ll pray for a magic kiss from a publishing prince!

No rest for the wicked...

Homework *gasp*. It's a frightening word at the best of times.

Bootcamp Homework *shriek*. Very scary term. Means doing work which will ultimately improve your writing, but involves revealing your writing to your fellow Bootcampers.

Part of the learning process is to let your work go and have others read it. I usually hate doing this. Competitions are great because the comments you get are anonymous, but in Bootcamp everyone knows who you are. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

I'm hoping everyone is comfy with this concept. It's been compared to getting your gear off and dancing naked in cyberspace, gleefully displaying your wonky bits and realising you may need to do some radical surgery to those wonky bits (thanks Nikki and Alison for the naked analogy!).

Well, Bootcamp is here to get us into shape so our manuscripts can strut their sleek, sexy stuff. I'm hoping by the time we finish we can apply what we've learnt to our work, and publishers will begging us for a piece of our hot mss (I was about to substitute 'a' for 'm', but thought I'd better not! Lol).

Just wanted to let my fellow Bootcampers know I'm just as pertrified as you. Huge hung Hughs to you all, and see you on Saturday! :-)

Day One of Bootcamping

We had our first day at Bootcamp yesterday and I have to say "Thank God we have a week until the next one." It was crazy, although I do believe we were all very well behaved. (Well most of the time), we had a few Huge Hugh moments or should I say Huge Hung Hugh LOL, this is just going to get better.

Anyway the day kicked off at 10am for we NSW gals which was cool, gave us time to get a few things sorted. Anne Gracie was fantastic, we will be kicking conflict in the butt by the end of this.

Dana ran us through a few OH&S exercises which I do believe will also be very good for my weight. A bend here a stretch there.

Then we had a chat with Christine Wells, what can I say but she is sweetheart and very giving with her advice.

The very cheeky Valerie Parv was after lunch and that was a riot, fantastic and learnt sooooo much about Romance Story Structure.

The was finished with Elizabeth Rolls and a very lively conversation on Show not Tell. I do believe I may just be getting a handle on that little problem.

So watch out everyone because we are working hard and in no time will be heading out into the big old world of publication. For now I have homework to finish.

See ya.
Sandie

We have a mascot!

What would Bootcamp be without a mascot? That is, the kind of hero who (in our fantasies) is egging us on, telling us to keep pushing through the pain until the finish line?!

Well, I'll make the 'official' announcement. Drum roll, please. The Bootcamp 109 mascot is:

HUGH JACKMAN!

It's not like I had any influence on the decision (yeah, right!). Really, everyone involved in our Bootcamp seems to have a bit of a 'thing' for Mr Jackman/His Hughness/His Hotness/Duke of Dishy/Hubba Hubba Hugh etc. (please feel free to add your own in the comments section). It was a natural choice, and one I'm extremely pleased about.

So... in celebration of this momentous occasion, enjoy these pics of our mascot. I can't wait to watch the Oscars so I can be 'inspired' by him (that's what I call it, anyway! Lol).

Language....

Just diverting from the hubba hubba viewing of Prince Caspian to the reading of the book.

How did you find the general 'readingness' of the book? - and yes, I did make that word up. I realise that 50 odd years have passed since it was written, but I was still surprised at how often my reading of it staggered because of terms/words used. You know, like when everyone is having a gay time.

When I think about it I get a giggle imagining what CS Lewis would think if today's definitions were applied to some of his text.

So, in case you missed it, I thought I would share the one that stood out the most for me:

Lucy heard Edmund say, "No, let me do it. It will be more of a sucks for him if I win, and less of a let down for us all if I fail."

And this is why I don't write historicals. I could never get the language down pat.

How did everyone else find the language?

Oh, Prince Caspian just included for your viewing pleasure... at least he's till on topic, lol.

Prince Caspian...

Part of the fun-and-games of Bootcamp is the HOMEWORK. Yay, homework (!).

One of our homework tasks was to read 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian', as well as watch the film. It's part of the show/tell workshop with Elizabeth Rolls http://www.elizabethrolls.com/ (shameless plug, here!).

Well, doing a little research into the film, I found a couple of great posters featuring the rather handsome Prince Caspian. Now, before you go ballistic on me for perving at a young-un, the rather delish Ben Barnes who plays Caspian is actually a 28 year-old, meaning he's only four years younger than moi (!), so he's perfect eye candy/hero material! The other good news is they're planning another Chronicles film, and Benny boy shall appear as Caspian (or should is be 'Gasp-ian'! Lol.

So, maybe homework isn't such a bad thing, after all? *grin*

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