Susan Stephens' Writing Diary

15 minutes!

And would have been longer, but dh couldn't stand the music I was listening to, and exercised his rights to turn it off...'We both have to live here...' rights, I mean.
(That can be rectified easily... there's a very nice shed down at the bottom of the garden- I could hang a mirror so he can shave)

However, although Wendy's idea was scuppered, I did find David's useful- not only could I disengage from dh muttering in the bathroom, but I could lose myself completely in my book. Diane Gabaldon Cross Stitch (for the umpteenth time)
Sometimes a girl needs a little fantasy in her life- know what I mean?

But I will use Wendy's music idea at some later point... I have plans to put a running machine in my writing cave... and NO ONE tells me what I can and cannot do when I'm in there! (for you younger readers- re my problem with a dinosaur- it's a generation thing)

Love to all, and happy reading!
Susan

Have given myself whole weekend off from wretched exercise to concentrate on health-giving red wine and chocolate.

Yes, Wendy, it's official, I am completely, hopelessly unfit, and no doubt by tomorrow will be back to a measly 5 minutes, let alone the admirable 6 minutes on the exercise bike I built up to by the end of last week!!

Thank you to Wendy for her advice on listening to Ibiza anthems whilst cycling, and to my hairdresser, David, who is the font of all knowledge... (have to say that in case he cuts all my hair off next time in a fit of pique)
Love you, David! Grovel... grovel...
David, font of all knowledge, and topmost barnet trimmer anywhere, recommends reading while I peddle. After all, as he points out, I'm always complaining that I don't get nearly enough time to read. But a chapter a session, David? Are we talking reading primers here? I would need to break my chapters down into paragraphs to start off with!

Love to all, and happy reading!
Susan

Twenty minutes on your exercise bike, Wendy! Twenty...minutes...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I managed to make it to 6 minutes today, and my pulse at the finish, from a low start point around the high fifties, was 102.

I'm checking in before I start my stomach crunches to confirm with Rosie, that yes, in order to lose 2 pounds in the morning you have to lift one foot from the weighing scales and lean at an extremely acute angle, taking care not to slip and crack your head open on the tiles- which, in fairness, would put an end to all our problems with our weight- and then you just lean, and lean and lean until you see the required weight flash up on the scales. Simple.

Off for more torture...(ps should sweat be dripping from me after 6 measly minutes?)

Love to all from your extremely unfit friend,
Susan

Will be back with you tomorrow.

Love around the world

Susan

Diet
OK, I admit it, I may have lost 2 pounds depending on the angle at which I stand on the scales.

Imagine my ears pricking up (and they are a considerable size, to enhance your image) when I learned that at least two of my friends are employing- and I have to whisper this, personal trainers to visit them in their own homes...

Imagine this, if you will... dh's car pulls out of the yard, and a tanned, toned young man sweeps in on his Yamaha, or Suzuki (at least that's the scene playing out in my own mind)
Stripping off his leathers our young stud is ready for action...

Excuse me, while I collect myself for a moment...

But my theory is this... why not lose the flab first? Stud second?
Non?
Or am I missing something?
Yes, you are missing something, and intentionally, you naughty naughty girl, you know you are...

Yep, girls, I'm sticking to fantasy- it's safer. Fantasy- and my secret weapon, an exercise bike.
Have to confess I had a 'near death' moment just now after only five minutes That's why I'm writing so early- just to prove to myself that I'm still alive...
Unfit? Moi?


Love to all from your exhausted friend
Susan

'Oh joy and rapture unforseen...'

Or Gilbertian words to that effect.

I've had my eye on the 'Turkish' exhibition being held in London at the Royal Academy, and during a conversation with one of my close chums it turns out that she met one of the curators while she was in India earlier this year.
Yes, we've booked. Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Imagine going round an exhibition with one of the curators. I can't believe it, I'm just so excited.

Spoke to another fabulous author, who is not only a relative, but a close friend of mine too. Maisie Mosco.
Who doesn't know Maisie Mosco, and her fantastic books? Buy them, borrow them, just make sure you don't miss out...
Everyone of them was a New York Times bestseller... Top of the Sunday Times list over here for weeks on end etc etc.
Everyone I've spoken to, whether in New York, other parts of the US, or in Europe generally, or UK specifically, speaks so warmly of Maisie. But none more than me!

And here's an inside story for you, if ever there was one...
Maisie helped me to wean Wiggy sprog! She came over to Malta with her late and lovely husband, Gerald, and stayed with me until Wiggy was eating solids and sleeping at night.
That's the type of friendship that lasts forever.
And her first best selling manuscript, Almonds and Raisins, came to my house in manuscript form- because she just had to take it everywhere with her (don't we all know that feeling?), and that was way before any of us realised what a fabulous hit it would be.

Of course, I missed out the bit where I used to visit Maisie most Saturdays with my late beloved father... I thought she was just the most glamorous, interesting and exciting person ever.

People like Maisie enrich our lives, as do all our good friends.

Wishing you all the friendships you deserve.
Love
Susan

There's something in the air...

Everyone I know is either frantically emptying cupboards, hiring skips to get rid of mega-tat from the year dot, or making marmalade. (Can we really eat, donate to the church bazaar etc, or give to friends 50 jars of the orange stuff? Apparently, we can)

This must be some learned behaviour from aeons past... What would we have been doing in the cave, I wonder? Tossing out old dinosaur bones, perhaps- Why keep that old Tyrannosaurus jaw bone easy chair when we've got the latest in Stegosaurus spine's to relax on? And by the way, minimus, how's your Tescosaurus jam coming along?

Me, I'm relaxing. (and hoping one of my lovely friends is going to give me a jar of their excellent marmalade!)

Love to all, and enjoy what remains of your weekend
Susan

I am constantly reminded of the gift of friendship...

Today we visited sprog minimus at school to break up the term, and to take her an 'A' level survival pack... raisins, fruit, soup, fun pens for making those all important notes, her favourite cakes, small gifts and treats etc etc.

While we were there her friend popped in from the next door study room- you know who you are!!!
To think those girls met 7 years ago on their very first day at the school, shook hands, and have remained firm friends ever since- Long may such wonderful friendships last!

And to all of you who have mailed me to ask about Wiggy sprog... First of all, thank you for your thoughts and your concern, which means so much to all of us here... and secondly, I am so pleased to be able to tell you that our wonderful police service retrieved Wiggy's beautiful leather briefcase from the back of the town hall where it had been dumped. And the contents... being papers and legal text books, were intact.
So, what did the robbers get in that exciting looking carrier bag?
Wiggy's smelly gym kit!!!
Sometimes, just sometimes, the bad guys get exactly what they deserve!

Enjoy your weekend everyone
Love to all, and happy reading!
Susan

OK, so think me a dork, I don't care...

The very best thing next to cashmere socks when you really want to sink into a mountain of sponge and chocolate and feathers and bubbles is...
Bill Oddie in his new incarnation as both a 'twitcher' and a wildlife expert. (A twitcher being a bird [of the feathered variety] watcher, in case the term doesn't travel.

In my youth, Bill Oddie was a very funny hippy, zippy member of a comedy act known as 'The Goodies'. He has now been reborn as a 'MUST WATCH' on a Friday night.
We learn about wildlife with Bill of course, but more than that, we clutch our blankies close as he takes us on a confort zone tour of our magnificent wildlife and countryside, all the while talking to us in such a gentle, caring, and cherishing way about the marvels that surround us... if only we open our eyes to see them.

Thank you Bill. We appreciate you more than you know.

Love to all, and wishing you all joy in the simple, natural beauties that surround you...
Susanxxx

Please excuse me for 'almost' taking a day off yesterday:)

Almost, because I started work at 6 instead of seven, and wrote a few things down that had been knocking on the window behind my eyes all night...

Then, I zoomed over the 'backbone' of England, to visit a new friend with an old friend (forgive me, Margaret!) at Jane's beautiful home in the Yorkshire countryside.

Picture this is you will... a large, converted farmouse, complete with Aga in the spacious kitchen which has windows over looking the swimming pool, the paddock for Jane's horses, and last but not least, the stunning view.

And there was a lovely old doggie for me to hug, called Rupert. Nuff said.

The big plus? Jane is a fantastic cook... well, chef, actually. Our menu? Warm chicken caesar, with rolled and baked aubergine filled with all sorts of yummy stuff-and that was dressed with a tangy fresh tomato sauce.
I hardly dare confess that the pudding was a dark chocolate mousse, after banging on about diets. Phooey to diets! Who needs them when there's food prepared by Jane around?!
And there was the most wonderful home baked bread...
Please Jane, can I come again?

Not surprisingly, there is a plan afoot... Jane, Margaret, and Liz- another of my lovely friends, and your truly, plan to go to Rome later this year, and take a cookery course together.
Watch out for some yummy Italian heroes... almost certainly drizzled in chocolate sauce, coming your way in 2006/7!!!

Love to all, and happy reading!
Susan

(And fortunately before I ate too many packets of biscuits)

OK, so my poor old H didn't have a POV. (I hang my head in shame)

Give him his say, and a Prologue later, and all is well.

Hooray!!
A writer's life is a happy one!
Doo da... Doo da!!

Love to all, and happy reading AND writing!
Susan

Sometimes, nothing else will do...

Digestive biscuits, that's my weakness. But, does it have to be a whole packet?
(Yes, it's a shame to leave any.)

I'm tired, my shoulders are aching (aaah!) and I haven't written as much as I thought I would today, which is a disappointment. The whole book's here in my head, for goodness sake... (I've got no patience with myself sometimes- what was all that about writing things down in a 'whirl of excitement'?? It must have deserted me today...) Trouble is, you see, the story and the characters mean so much to me, I want to be sure I'm giving them and it my all.

Are some authors blessed with bags of confidence, or do they all agonise like me over every single moment of their story?
I can't talk about lines, or pages, or chapters, and I can't break a book down into dialogue, or narrative, or POV etc. To me it's just two people with an incredible love story to tell, which they've entrusted to me to write down... And I've got to get it right... OK won't do- for me, or for them...I have to give it all I've got every time.

Better luck tomorrow!

Love to all, happy reading, and effortless writing!
Susan

Cashmere bedsocks...


Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Love to all, and happy reading! (If you can't do it today, when can you do it?)

Susanxx

And I swear that this has never happened to me before...

Suffice it to say that I shot up in bed last night...I'll say no more.

I checked on dh, who was sleeping soundly, and then settled back down on my chaste pillows, putting all thoughts of... well, anything untoward, out of my mind.

I woke up however, with a very big smile on my face.

(Theo, and Lorenzo, you are very, very naughty boys)

If you want a big smile on your face, look out for Theo and Lorenzo in a bookshop near you some time in 2006/2007

Love to all--- and have a great weekend

Susan

Did you notice the lovely Julia Roberts say this not once, but twice in one of my favourite films, Notting Hill. Strange that Hughie, or even the director of the film didn't think to correct her, (perhaps they didn't dare) since here in Blighty we say, 'Whoops a daisy' (equally nonsensical, but daisy, singular)...
However, I digress-

My Whoops came when that little gnome who sits inside my computer decided yet again to discard two pages of my work when I saved it both on disc and hard drive.
(That will teach me to swing along with Finlay in the sunshine yesterday thinking all was right in the world while my adorable old pooch was bouncing around like a youngster)
The daisy came when I had to sit down, calm down, and rewrite... think I got it back to where I wanted it, and perhaps even a little better... but having consulted with friend, and web-whizz, Wendywoo, I'm convinced that the only way to be certain you don't lose your work is to print it out as you go along. Thank you, Wendy.

Now then, here's a warning for you...
If you drink those little yoghurt drinks each morning (as I do), and drink herb tea throughout the day(as I do), check that you're not drinking tea containing liquorice!! We all know that those little yoghurt drinks, so cleverly marketed, are in fact a sanitised up to the minute way of selling us laxatives... and as for liquorice...

Suffice it to say, I had an explosive night last night!

There, it's not every author who would share the inner workings of her body with you-
Love to you all, and exercise a little caution, will you? :))

Susan (who's probably ten pounds lighter as she speaks!)

It's my lunch break, and the sun is shining reminding me of one of my favourite songs- Steve Wonder's 'You are the sunshine of my life'

Believe it or not, I used to sing this song in cabaret, and even have a recording somewhere in the house to prove it! I seem to rememberI sang it when I first met dh, and probably with a great deal of feeling... feeling which is still there after almost 27 years. A record? Or have you a love-at-first-sight story to tell.. If you have, let me know, and I'll send you some goodies and post it here (with your permission)

I had a wonderful chat with my ed' yesterday, and it reminded me what heroes they are. Just think of it- almost 30 authors for one ed to cope with... all of whom are totally professional, totally dedicated, and totally demanding!
I think editors deserve a great round of applause for putting up with us!
I know some of you drop in here from time to time- so, welcome, and thank you!

Which page do you spend the most time on?

I write and rewrite my first page, saying roughly the same thing, as many times as there are pages in the finished book (or thereabouts)

I don't know about you, but I am grabbed, or not grabbed by the end of a book's first page.
Yes, if I think there's something that intrigues me I'm not going to slam it shut just because I'm not sure what that something might be... but I do believe that the first page, the first line, is absolutely crucial. And if you don't care about it, why should anyone else?

Does it touch me- Do I smile, frown, sigh, turn over the page and read on?
I even look at the page as a sculpture- Does it look good on the page?
And music- Does the rhythm please me in my head as I read the words?

Emotion- that's what writing means to me- I want to experience something as I write, as I read... And by the end of the book I want to feel that I've been on a journey
That's why I pay so much attention to the first page- that journey has to be worth taking.

And why am I up so early?
Because later this morning I will be speaking to my lovely Ed' And with almost 30 authors on her hands, I don't want to waste a precious second of her time.
So now I'm off to make a list (of questions for her)
What would we do without them? Editors, and lists!

Love to all,
Happy reading, and wishing you a peaceful day full of love.
Susan

We are the best.
No equivocation, no debate, just fact.

However, I do love my alpha males... I air-brush them on the page until they're just the way I want a man to be.. Oh, yeh baby... Right now, I have Lorenzo under my fingertips, and we're steaming!

Meanwhile, back on Planet Reality- Thank you so much for your good wishes, Krista!! The lost book wasn't quite as bad as I had anticipated. A large part of it was just as I remembered, though sadly some more of it was definitely First Draft standard...(Clearly a version I had discarded when I started work on one of the deleted versions)

I don't know about you, but the way I work is this- I get an idea, and I write the whole book down fast in a great whirl of excitement. By the end I really know those characters, and they want to change heaps of stuff from back when I didn't know them quite so well- that's where the subsequent drafts come in.

Anyway, if I ever write Susan Stephens tips on what not to do when you're writing a romantic novel, my number one tip would be this... On your first day back after a break NEVER delete anything.
And later, when you do want to delete something- resist the urge until you've saved it onto a disc, and then put it somewhere safe, neatly labelled!!

Phew!! Mopping of brows all round!

Keep those comments rolling in- I love to hear from you!

Love to you all- and wishing you all stress-free reading and writing!!
Susan

Now everyone knows by now that I adore writing... And that I can't go for long just ignoring those characters knocking on the door inside my head demanding to have their say!! But I've been beset by all sorts of ridiculous problems today...

The monitor screen, the same monitor screen that has been in a perfect position since I bought it, is suddenly all wrong- And no matter how I tilt it, or fix my seat...Up.......Down........Up......Oh, well, you get the idea!! Nothing helps.

To make matters worse, I discovered that I have very carefully preserved on disc as well as on the PC my first draft of a new book- cleverly deleting my polished version...

I want you all to know that I was very grown up about it. But I have thrown away hours of work...

Never mind- just remember the song, 'All you have to do is smile-'
(I'm going to let you into a little secret- it doesn't work!)

I'm going to take my faithful doggie out for a little walk across the fields now, and that at least is one thing that is guaranteed to put a smile back on my face!

Wishing you all more luck than I've had today!
Love to you all
Susan

I have to say I have been overwhelmed by the messages I have received regarding the death of little Honey... Thank you all so much!

Today was a much better day because Fin', my remaining Heinz 57 varieties pooch, was absolutely fine on her walk, and it was my turn to run- to keep up with her.
So, as you can guess, I have a big fat smile on my face as I write this to you...

Now, I promised you the juice on my New Year celebrations.
Invited by my friends from the 'roaring eighties' group, I found myself at a wonderful table full of interesting people. And by the way, for those football fans amongst you- at the next table there was Sir Alex Ferguson (manager of Man U) resplendent in his kilt- and very fine he looked too.
There was a wide spectrum of ages at our table from thirties to eighties;the food was good, the company excellent- and quite naturally, the dancing was started off by my 84 year old neighbour (a retired lawyer) who swept one of the ladies onto the floor the moment the musicians struck up!

I sat next to a charming man called Colin whose daughter, an atrologer, lives on the Greek island of Lefkada.
Check out the 'Company of Astrologers' and look for Lefkada Summer Schools run by Colin's daughter, Joanna. Doesn't that sound like the most wonderful special interest holiday ever??!!
Joanna covers tarot readings for complete beginners onwards as well as all levels of astrology. She also offers private tuition and personal readings.
To quote Joanna, 'Forget classrooms! All courses are held on a beautiful vine-leaf covered terrace, a stone's throw from the sea front...'

Wow! Fantastic, Joanna, and what a wonderful career path you've chosen- and in a setting that's straight out of a Presents romance... Check out, 'The Greek's Seven Day Seduction coming to the US in March, to see what I mean!!!

Love to you all- and once again thank you everyone for your kind thoughts, they mean so much to me.

Happy reading everyone!
Susan

I'm trying to be jolly... I vowed to be jolly... But yes, I lost my little dog, Honey, and today my last remaining dog Finlay refused to complete her much-loved walk.

I think all you animal lovers know how I'm feeling right now- but I did want to come here and share all the news, so I guess we just have to take the bad along with the good.

Good news for me did come along on Thursday when four of us, who arrived at the Royal College of Music on the same day, and palled up on that day, got together for our annual dinner.
This year we met at Sue's... Hi Sue! And Sue really pushed the boat out, treating us to a fabulous meal with fine wines, Cecilia Bartoli singing wonderful arias, as well as Sue's very own brand of humour to keep us all in fits of laughter throughout the evening.
Sue has a beautiful home complete with an amazingly glam' white grand piano- Can she play it? You betcha! Sue not only gives concerts all over the world, but teaches pianoforte at one of the foremost music schools in Europe.

Yes, we have a few laughter lines these days- but when we all get together the years just melt away.
If that's taught me one thing, it's that friendship is precious.
Wishing you all the true blessing of good friends.

Love to you all, and happy reading!
Susan

ps I'll be back tomorrow with news of New Year, which led to my finding out about a fantastic 'interest' holiday in Greece. (So, if astrology's your thing don't forget to check in here tomorrow!)
Sx

This new year is rather different to every other that I can remember. I think we're all a little subdued.

Nonetheless, I wish you all joy, peace and happiness in 2005, and I will be back and firing on all cylinders tomorrow to bring you up to date with all the happenings in the world of Susan Stephens.

With my love to you all
Susan