Reasons To Be Cheerful

Ooops - sorry. I've been a Bad Blogger again - but I've just been completely overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that had accumulated during my illness and the computer's absence. Not least by three backlogged emails from my publisher saying a)they expect Moonshine to be delivered by the end of January latest, b) they've booked Moonshine's copy editing for early Feb and c) Moonshine is going into production in mid-Feb.

Now this all sounds very efficient and encouraging - but when you're the one writing Moonshine and it's now mid-January and you've only done 5 chapters...

See my problem????

So - I'm writing like stink to try and do it. No, I know and you know it's not possible, but I'm not going to admit that yet. Not to myself and certainly not to my publishers... Yes, I've told them that because I've lost over a month's writing time that I'm miles behind but that doesn't seem to be a good enough reason...

So, I've set myself a sort of manic target - like, if I write two chapters a day I might just do it. Hah! Or, maybe if I write at least 7,000 words a day, every day, I might be close. Double hah! Or, perhaps, if I live on Red Bull and other stimulants and give up sleeping and eating and any sort of life at all and just sit here and type, it might just turn into a finished 100,000 word book in two weeks... hah-de-hah-de-hah!!!

Anyway - to alleviate the panic about the deadline and my lack of book - I've been thinking about the things that are currently making me cheerful (glass half full every time!).

First is the reason for the pic - hot water bottles! Pure bliss in this freezing winter - we were down to minus 12 the other night and they're forecasting snow again next week. So, The Toyboy Trucker and I have reverted to childhood - wrapping the PJs round the bottles before bedtime, then snuggling into the warm hollow and having the bottles on our feet. The cats love them too. So much pleasure for absolutely no financial outlay!

And I feel so much better. It's great to feel well again after so many weeks of being ill.

Then there's my PLR statement - and the money to be paid in early Feb. Oh, thank the lord for PLR. This year it's absolutely BRILLIANT and I'm not even thinking that most of it will probably have to pay the January tax bill (a bit of a downer, always having to pay the tax bill on a good year's earnings from money in a year when I've earned sod all - and no, I don't put any away for the tax bill as you're supposed to. Are you kidding? I have to live on every penny I earn...) - it's still a lovely wodge of cash and something my poor bank account hasn't seen for MONTHS. And it means that however bad the book sales seem to be, lots of people borrow my books from libraries which means they DO like them and I DO have readers out there. Sadly, my PLR earnings and the payments from my magazine work currently make up a much larger chunk of my writing income than the books... Maybe next year this will all change???

Next, it's only 12 weeks until The Wedding!!! We're all so excited - and Elle has her final fitting of the gorgeous, fantabulous Ian Stuart dress at the end of Jan and I shall be awash... And having now lost the December 5lbs and some more, I now have 12 weeks to lose 11lbs to be able to fit into the m-o-t-b frock - and I honestly think I can do that!!! Oh, and as I've lived in the red satin killer heels indoors ever since I bought them (they look fab with my PJs - vbg) I'm getting used to them and don't even wobble on them now...

Then there's the weather - I LOVE cold weather (sorry Debs) - and have taken every opportunity to do my walking in snow showers and freezing fog and frost - and it's cheered me up no end. And it's lovely to come home all glowing... And I can wear my beloved ancient collection of woolly hats (mostly berets in bright colours with sparkly bits on them) and fluffy scarves - none of these have seen the light of day for ages because of the recent mild winters...

And yesterday, while rooting around in our local clothes shop (they're having a massive sale and I'm ever hopeful) I found some real linen sun dresses reduced from £40 to - wait for it - £1!!!! £1!!!! I bought 4 (one in each colour)! I've never bought four dresses in one go - and they fit like a dream and skim my lumpy bits and look wonderfully expensive... Can't wait for the fabulous summer we've been promised to show them off (Debs, you've been warned!)...

And finally - the Toyboy Trucker's firm cancelled their Christmas dinner-dance party because everyone had various bugs and lurgies and they're now having it in a couple of weeks time instead, but because it's after Christmas and everywhere is offering really cheap prices, they're going to put us all up in a 5-star hotel as well - so, I'll get to wear a posh frock and swan about in luxury and forget about being broke and depressed about Moonshine (even if it is only for one night)...

So - I'm happy. No, I am, honestly. And now I'm going back to chapter 6 of Moonshine while chanting "I can do this.. I can do this... I can do this..."