Home Page of Anne Ashby Writing Warm Fuzzy and Fun Stories

June 30

I’ve just had a rush of blood to the brain. But do I have the guts? Am I willing to put three or four months work into something no editor will probably be willing to look at. Hmm it’ll be a big decision.

Having just completed my WIP, I like to get straight onto a new story before I start chopping the previous one to bits in preparation for submission to somewhere. I think I’m going to turn around the story that’s been clamouring around inside me for the last month or so. I think my equivalent to the “Billionaire businessman” could actually be my heroine, and “the maid” could be the hero. Why not? We live in a world of equal opportunities, don’t we? There are plenty of CEO businesswomen around and more than enough very heroic menial workers who deserve a lift into the world of riches. Wonder if editors would see the satire? What do you think? I’d love to hear your views.

June 24

The last couple of weeks have been more rewarding than many preceding ones. After weeks of editing and re-editing previous chapters or avoiding my computer entirely, I typed the last words of my WIP. I’m nowhere near finished it, of course, but what a relief. After stagnating for many weeks the ending finally emerged. During the dragged out process of completing this story I’ve made one discovery. Don’t allow the story to peak too soon. I had a ‘mystery’ forming the secondary interest in the plot and once I’d written it’s solution, the story fell flat. The romance couldn’t carry it to its conclusion. So lots of rewriting is needed but hey, that’s nothing. With the whole idea actually transferred into words, fixing those bits won’t seem half as onerous. Determination and perseverance in the face of lack of inspiration did finally pay off. Never give up, my motto for the week.

June 9

Selling one book hasn’t made me any more knowledgeable about the romance publishing industry than I was before that sale. So I feel ill-equipped to offer advice. But one thing I’m sure of and I would strongly suggest any budding writer try to follow this. Bring what you love and are passionate about within your own life into your stories. Irrespective of what these passions might be, find a way to include them in your writing. This expert knowledge, enthusiasm and zeal can be used as background, back story, setting – whatever fits into the story you are weaving, but use it. Your readers will feel and get caught up in the fervour of your emotions and your story will become deeper and so much more dimensional.

June 3

A couple of years ago during our RWNZ conference another language problem was brought home to me. We’d handed in first pages of our ms for one of our American guests – I can’t remember who, sorry - then read aloud and commented quickly about each. When she stopped at the end of one of these pages and apologised for not understanding one of the phrases written there I took little notice. I know how different we speak to Americans so wasn’t at all surprised. But I was astounded when everyone in the room except for the author - sitting directly behind me - and I, also denied any knowledge to what “common dog” meant. I mean, come on, it’s a most basic phrase, widely used, isn’t it? Beep, Beep! Wrong! It seemed so natural to me because it wasn’t a different language. It was military speak.

I guess the military is a world of its own with a developed language few outside its realms would ever completely understand. But to those of us who have served, it very quickly became part of our lives. Being “encouraged” (under threat of all sorts of dire consequences) to quickly adopt this new language it becomes so common place you no longer realise you are using different words than your civilian friends. I think the Navy probably leads the way within the Services in the amount of words we quickly learned. Deck, bulkhead, galley, head, gunnels are all very obvious if you know anything about ships/boats but others are more intriguing. Dhoby is to wash, whether yourself or your clothes, Dhobes are your dirty washing, you eat scran in your mess, you drink goffas, you buy mackas for your kids at the dairy. Formally “dogwatch” or dogs is being on duty either between 4-6pm or 6-8pm when at sea or ashore it refers to the night watch (shift). But it also means for a short time, ie ‘He’s only been here for a dogwatch’. Watch out for scuttlebutt (gossip), and where you ditch the gash,

salty indicates age and/or experience. Coming home after months on overseas deployment you bring rabbits for your loved ones. No, not the fluffy variety, but presents of any shape or form. Jack is a sailor, pussers is the navy, or more correctly, the bean counters within the navy.

Jack speak is a very colourful language, which is so ingrown in my vocabulary that I didn’t realise how difficult we were making life for our kids until our oldest child (then aged 5) came home from school upset because other kids didn’t know what she was talking about. Today I couldn’t begin to tell you what words I still use everyday that are Naval terminology. It's only when someone gives you a and-which-planet-did-you-say-you-were-from look you realise. It takes something like this example from the conference to remind me I mustn’t be complacent about how I write my stories.

Some other day I’ll dig out more colourful terms to whet your appetite for expanding your vocabulary.