Happy New Year, folks!

Now, how time flies! It seems like my birthday was only yesterday, even though I know it’s been almost a couple of weeks already. Unbelievable!

And Christmas? Where has that gone? Didn’t we just go food shopping early on Wednesday morning, in the snow storm, avoiding the crowds (who all looked pretty miserable – was it the snow or the pre-Xmas stress, I wonder)? Ahh, yes, our wonderful Christmas Eve, with pressies opened late that night (German style), and Christmas Day with yummy food and drink. Has it really been over a week since we celebrated?

Well, the presents are stored away, where they belong. The beauty stuff’s in the bathroom, kitchen things are, well, in the kitchen drawer and books are on the shelf, waiting for us to explore them at our leisure. The tree’s going to come down this weekend, and our living room will revert back to normal. But I think we might just leave the light chain on the corridor window for a little while longer. Makes it look nice!

So now we’re in 2010? You got to be kidding me!

Yes, Hogmanay last night was great fun. Hubby and I went from one pub in the New Town, to another of our favourite pubs on the Royal Mile. Having secured a table with the perfect view over who’s coming and going (isn’t people-watching fun?!), we didn’t even venture out to watch the lunar eclipse. And the moon could even turn blue – still no chance of us leaving that cosy pub!

We did eventually leave our warm haven for North Bridge (and -6C temperatures underneath a clear, moonlit sky) to watch the fireworks. The sky sparkled from the castle and Calton Hill opposite. Five minutes of crash-bang-boom in rainbow colours, accompanied by echoes of ooohs and aaahs, and it was all over. Thanks to Lothian Buses/RBS for the free night bus service, though! Don’t dare think what a taxi might have cost us – if we’d managed to catch one, that is.

Today was a day of rest, phone calls and televised skiing. From tomorrow, it’s back to my synopsis. My own deadline for submitting it to M&B is the 10th January. Got to get my brain cells into gear. Fingers & toes crossed!

So, now we’re in the New Year we wished everyone to be a happy one. Let’s hope so! No, even better, let’s make it a happy one!

Happy New Year, everyone!

A White Birthday…

Yes, for the first time in many, many years it was snowy on my birthday, a few days before Christmas. How delightful it was, pulling the bedroom curtains to the side to peek out after I got up. The garden, the roof, the trees and the car – all were covered in several inches of snow. Fair enough, it had been snowing for the three preceding days but you never know – we could have had a sudden heat wave.

But as it was, the snow was glistening outside, while the temperature in the bedroom wasn’t that much higher. BRR! Hugging my dressing gown, I ventured to the living room – to a big surprise. Hubby had decorated the walls with Happy Birthday banners, a fire was lit, and the floor was covered in a sea of balloons. The room was lovely and cosy, and my presents were waiting for me!

I began to unwrap them to a hot cuppa coffee, loving the excitement of exposing the unexpected. The practical mingled with the silly, just as always. Toasty warm towelling socks met fancy head massager (looks like a open whisk but it’s bliss!), Ebook Reader light met rude bottle closer. Fab choices, as always.

Later that morning, we went to a German cafe for breakfast (yummy black forest ham), after which we took a leisurely stroll through the snow-covered park to the Christmas market. With the snow on the roofs of the stalls, it all looked very Christmassy. A couple of Gluehweins later, we were merry enough. We browsed the stalls, watched the ice-skaters, and went into a few shops to look for some last minute ideas for Christmas gifts. And I even bought one or two!

After a bus ride home, we had some more wine and relaxed. Thanks alot to hubby for making this another special birthday… xxx

Germany, December 2009

It was time for the ferry again. Almost to the week, it was 12 months ago since we went across for our humanist wedding celebration. This time, it was for my gran’s 90th birthday!

Unfortunately, she was taken to hospital the week before, so we knew we had to celebrate in hospital. Oh, well! There were times, back in the early ’90s, when we were used to this for other relatives. You just make the most of it.

Anyway, back we were on the ferry, enjoying some pear cider in the bar on board after an unexpectedly lengthy drive across the Northumbrian countryside. Just south of the border, the A1 was closed for roadworks for what must have been a long stretch, leaving us to traipse along single lane, incredibly winding and often narrow C roads. Yes, for at least 15 miles, we even had the misfortune of being stuck behind a row of trucks. Took us ages to overtake them. And we finally made the ferry with 5 minutes to spare, thanks to our 45 minute detour! Thank you, Northumberland! GRR!!!

So after dropping off our bags in our 4-berth cabin (nice surprise!) all to ourselves, we headed out, watched Newcastle go by, and ended up in the bar, watching the wonderful entertainment that was on offer. Well, I say ‘wonderful’ with a note of sarcasm here. The band members looked like a jobless combo from the ’60s – with a young, female singer of around 30. The words sugar daddy sprung to mind. The song repertoire ranged from the ’60s (not surprisingly!) to today’s chart toppers. We needed more pear cider to survive them before the night was out…

One year already, Mr & Mrs P!

The 1st Patterson Wedding Anniversary has come round very quickly. What? Has it really been 12 months since we were in the last throes of preparations for our big day? Unbelievable!

We can well remember the countdown to the day of our Registry Office wedding. The two weeks preceding the day were spent sorting out the name tags, put the favours – love hearts and mini Merci chocs – into little sachets, and get the last bits for the decorations. And there was always the panic of forgetting something. But what? On the day, all was in place so I guess we got it all right.

L’s parents and a small group of friends, from Germany, Wales and Scotland, shared the day with us. Very low key, understated. The morning was a blur of hairdresser, stuck in traffic jam on way home (disaster!), our friend Ry driving our car with L to the venue to decorate while us girls got ready – all almost an hour later than schedule. Frenzy ruled! Well, it was made bearable by a glass of bubbly on the go. But I never had time to stop and take a bite to eat. As it was, Chlo painted my nails in the taxi to the Registry, while I munched a banana. All good! Fortunately, the rest of the day went more smoothly. We even had a bright blue sky all day. Never mind the 2 degrees C outside. BRRR!

And now, it’s all already gone a year. 12 months. 52 weeks. And one day. How on earth did that happen?

How did you celebrate, I hear you asking. Well, we started off with a glass of bubbly on Friday at midnight. Then another on Saturday morning, before I headed out to get my hair done. This time, I was done quicker than I thought. Met hubby in town at the German Christmas market for a most luxurious anniversary lunch – Schupfnudeln mit Sauerkraut! (Go on, look it up!) Accompanied by hot cherry wine, with a shot of cherry schnaps. Very stylish!

The proper stuff!

After a wander round the market, a stop off at the ice ring (where I challenged L to a round after we come back from Germany next week), and a quick browse through Jenners, we headed for a pub to watch Scotland play Argentina in the rugby. Oh well, we lost. Never mind! With a couple of drinks, it was almost bearable.

Then we went home, finished off that bubbly while watching the Wales v Australia match. Another loss for the home side. Ah, not meant to be! I changed into something more posh, and off we wandered to the restaurant we celebrated last year. This time, it was just a cosy table for two. L enjoyed a large pizza, and a strawberry Sundae while I munched king prawns in coconut sauce, with noodles, and some lemon cream dessert. Of course, all washed down with a bottle of wine.

Happily, we staggered home along the dark roads. Needless to say, at the end of a day of food and drink, we were sound asleep by 11pm!

Happy first anniversary, L! To the next 50 years! xxx

And on to the synopsis

Right.

I’ve finished editing my first three chapters of Highland Arms (for the time being) and they’re with my lovely critique girls for checking. Once I’ve done any necessary changes, I’ll save them somewhere and forget about them for a few days.

Because in the coming week, I’ll be focusing on a query letter and, most importantly, the synopsis. This is going to be a challenge as I slightly changed the storyline halfway through. Oh well, it’ll be fun. But before I start the serious bit, I’ve got to read up on what’s actually required. I’ve had some excellent tips from the crit girls, and other helpful writing and writers blogs. There’s a surprising amount of information out there which, once filtered, can be incredibly useful.

I’m going to submit first to The Wild Rose Press, an ebook publisher (which also publishes some novels over 65k words in paperback. Check out their stunning covers!). I’ve read several of their historical and contemporary romance novels and enjoyed them immensely. Their writers are of a high quality, creating wonderful atmospheres and deep characters.

And once the letter and synopsis are gone, I’ll move on with my editing. I hope to have the full ms edited by Christmas. No time to relax for my crit girls!

I’m so excited!