All the best of 2016--What does your list look like? And and #IWSG late note...

Hi there!

Sheesh! I've been checking out a few blogs and see I've missed the IWSG, probably for the first time ever! Sorry if you came by to check out my post, but hey, I've been too involved in real life and forgot digital life there!  Anyway, while I'm here, I'll just say that I'm not feeling insecure this month. I'm feeling very grounded in my writing and am back to writing hours every day. How about you?

The awesome co-hosts for the January 4 posting of the IWSG will be Eva @ Lillicasplace, Crystal Collier, Sheena-kay Graham, Chemist Ken, LG Keltner, and Heather Gardner!

If you want to hang around, I have some pretty pictures for you as I relate my Best of 2016...

But before you do, I should answer this IWSG question:

What writing rule do you wish you’d never heard?

Well, there's a lot of writing rules I wish I'd never heard. Most seem to be just to trip up newbies, as I see best-selling authors breaking these so-called rules every time. One that I find particularly galling is the 'never use as except as a comparison.'


As in (((snark))) (((snark)))

'I fell over as he threw the ball at me.'

Should be...'He threw the ball at me. I fell over.' Yes, sometimes the 'as' makes the sentence out of order, but there's times you just have to use 'as', in my humble opinion.

I read every book from those 4 guys who sell the most popular fiction in the world...Lee Child, Michael Connolly, Dean Koontz, James Patterson...they must laugh themselves silly at this rule, not that they would care. I counted about 20 supposedly bad uses of 'as's' in one page of a recent Lee Child Jack Reacher book. It bothered me that he can do it and still sell gazillions of books. Goes to show readers want a story, not a rigid conformity to rules. Don't get me started...oh, you did. Now I'd better stop or I'll offend the rules police even more.

Happy Writerly New Year!! And blast those rules!! Tell that story!! 

2016. 

The year that was. 

Tough. 

The great humanitarian crises in Syria and other Middle Eastern countries, the rise of nationalism in Germany, the terror threats/incidents in France, Germany, Iraq and Turkey and so on, multiple terror threats thwarted in Australia over Christmas, Brexit in Britain, Trump in the US, a killer president in the Philippines...oh, wow, get those fireworks happening! 

I'm not into New Year's Resolutions. Why shoot myself in the foot? But I rather enjoy thinking about what's been good in the past year while at the same time wondering what the New Year will bring. If you'd like to write your own list of My Best in the comments, that'd be awesome!

BEST...

MOBILE APP: Tinybeans (a baby-picture sharing app for those who don't want their baby's pictures all over the internet). My daughter is a social worker and sees too many wacky things. She chooses not to share photos of her baby, my one and only shiny grandchild. It's tough for me as he is the most gorgeous little fellow, but I totally understand.

INTERVIEWER: CNN's Christian Amanpour. Love the way she takes on the biggies and crooks of the world and at times squeezes a little truth out of them.

DOCUMENTARY: Utopia, produced by John Pilger. A very, very disturbing trip through central Australian aboriginal communities, showing the long history of mainly white abuse and how the situation is even worse than it was in the '60s despite millions of $$$ being spent. Unbelievable.

BOOK I READ: THRILLER - I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes. I hated being so fascinated by the evil, but it felt a reality in our world.

MOVIE: The Light Between Oceans, based on an early Australian true story of a young couple living in a lighthouse on a remote Western Australian island who find and keep a baby who washes up on the shore. Tragic.

BINGE WATCHING:

NETFLIX TV SHOW: The Killing

TV SHOWS: The Good Wife/Madam Secretary

OVERSEAS TRAVEL: China, although it took me 2 weeks to get the pollution out of my system.

WITHIN AUSTRALIA TRAVEL: Sydney/Hunter Valley Wine Region

THINGS ABOUT MOVING BACK TO THE BEACH: Watching whales frolicking from my deck, growing my own tomatoes and herbs. Begone, plastic tomatoes.

BLOGGER MOMENT: Meeting Lynda Young in person on a terribly humid day after her move to Brisbane and sharing a French meal together.

POLITICAL MOMENTS:
-- Bernie Sander's run for President, albeit brief.
-- Michelle Obama's speeches and positive actions for African girls.
(Okay, not Australian political moments. Our politics are deadly boring which is not necessarily a bad thing after seeing the global trend)

DRINK:
-- Baked Poetry Cafe, Peregian Beach, iced coffee.
-- Hunter Valley Chocolate Factory's Mexican Hot Chocolate.
-- Pink Champagne from Peterson's Champagne House, Hunter Valley

CHRISTMAS SNACK: Chocolate and hazlenut truffles from the Hunter Valley Chocolate Factory

ANTICIPATIONS FOR 2017:
-- Finishing my Paris novel and getting it published.
-- Writing most days
-- Meeting with my 2 fabulous critique partners every month and exchanging chapters every few weeks

-- The opening of a French restaurant in Peregian Beach. (No big deal if you live in a big town, but Peregian is a little village of 3,500 people who enjoy the best of everything!!)
-- Finishing watching Netflix's House of Cards.
-- Travelling to the UK in April/May to visit my daughter who's there for a year, then taking her on a guided tour of Paris. Tres magnifique!

Happy New Year!! May all your dreams eventuate in 2017!!

• The WEP winners are announced at Write...Edit...Publish. Please check them out if you have a moment.
• And I'd love to read your list of Best of 2016. Please play along. 

Short travel post number one -- China, the Great Wall -- and a few bonus photos.

Several of you asked for more pics of my trip to China and I'm happy to oblige. Today I'm starting with a few outtakes from travel articles I've written since returning home. I'll start my first 'proper' China post back at the Great Wall after a little detour.

If you'd rather read/comment on my Word Press blog, go here...

TRAVEL 'FIRSTS'

Travellers the world over share the heady anticipation of ‘firsts’—the first time they see Rocamadour, (the town of the Black Madonna and foie gras) built into the cliff face not far from Bordeaux in France, the first time they make it to Everest Main Camp, the first time they make a pilgrimage to Machu Picchu.

Glorious Rocamadour didn't disappoint!

Yet some ‘firsts’ can be disappointing. Think about this...As I entered the hallowed halls of the Vatican to gaze upon Michelangelo’s painted ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, a much-anticipated 'first', it was not the ceiling but the floor that dominated the scene—wall to wall tourists lying on their backs pointing cameras with lenses as long as their arms to the ceiling while nattily-dressed security guards danced over the inert bodies screaming, ‘No photo! No photo!’

But my last ‘first’ exploded every expectation I’d held since I saw newspaper photos of President Nixon and Mao Zedong on the Great Wall of China in the '70s—my own ‘first’ visit to the Great Wall, the foremost example of ancient architecture on the planet.

What I dubbed Base Camp at the Juyong Pass Great Wall section.
After climbing the wall, it was good to mosey around here while the thighs tried to stop wobbling.

Getting ready to rock! That mountain top looks a long way away!

Heading for the watchtower at the top of the mountain. Those stairs were full-on killers. We’re all giddily happy to be climbing the wall. Some tell me it was a long-cherished dream, impossible to fulfill when China was closed to foreigners, (wàiguó rén, or ‘big noses’).

This wall is mighty steep and goes forever. It's a long way to the top if you want to rock 'n' roll!!

The top of the section. Sadly, I didn't make it this far, but the hubs is far more competitive than I am...of course he had to take photos for me!

• How about you? Do you have any travel 'firsts' that never leave your mind?

Thanks for coming by.

I hope you enjoyed travelling with me.

Next post will be on Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City.

Misha Gericke reveals her writing insecurities for #IWSG. Endless blog tour post. And a China sneak-peek--the Great Wall of China.

Welcome to the May #IWSG posts. Many of you will be battle fatigued after participating in the A - Z Challenge. I was busy touring China, so I'm not sure which was the most exhausting. I'll give you a pic or two of China at the end of the post for those who have been begging to see some, but today my blog belongs to Misha Gericke who is sharing her insecurities on writing then introducing us to her new book.

Thank you to Alex J Cavanaugh and the team of co-hosts for May!
 We have: Stephen Tremp, Fundy Blue, MJ Fifield, Loni Townsend, Bish Denham, Susan Gourley, and Stephanie Faris! If you have time, visit each one and say hi!

******************************************************************************
Now, take it away, Misha!

About Insecurities

The first time I managed to finish a book, it was a huge, almost terrifying tome that took me six months only to figure out the concept.

So when the time came for me to write Endless, my second story, I was terrified of starting it.

All because it felt like I didn’t have enough understanding of the story to write it. Endless started as a concept; more than two years before that I only thought of tangentially while drafting The Vanished Knight and The Heir’s Choice. Sort of: “I wish I could write a story about an amnesiac immortal.”

Then I had a sudden blast of inspiration right before NaNoWriMo. I didn’t have anything else to write, so obviously Endless was the best option. But I didn’t think about the world. Didn’t even know any of the characters. (Which was a new experience for me.)

I freaked out for the whole week before NaNoWriMo started, which of course meant that I couldn’t figure anything out either.

This sounds like the recipe for a disaster, doesn’t it?

Well… actually...

I started on November 1 with no clue other than the main character having amnesia.

I finished the rough draft in fifteen days. (Which was my personal record from November 2011 to September 2015.)

The rewrite took me three weeks. (I rough draft in pen.)

The book basically wrote itself. Twice.

Which does go to show you.

Sometimes, we really freak out about the stupidest things.

What has caused you to be insecure about your writing, only to turn out not to be worth worrying about?

About the Book

“First, do no harm.” Blake Ryan swore that oath to become a doctor. Ironic, given that he spent most of his thousand year life sucking souls out of other immortals.

Things are different now. Using regular shots of morphine to keep his inner monster at bay,

Ryan has led a quiet life since the Second World War. His thrills now come from saving lives, not taking them.

Until a plane crash brings Aleria into his hospital. Her life is vibrant. Crack to predators like him. She’s the exact sort of person they would hunt, and thanks to a severe case of amnesia, she’s all but defenseless.

Leaving Aleria vulnerable isn’t an option, but protecting her means unleashing his own inner monster. Which is a problem, because his inner monster wants her dead most of all.

AmazonUS | Amazon Universal | Apple | Barnes& Noble | Kobo |Goodreads

About the Author

Misha Gerrick lives near Cape Town, South Africa, and can usually be found staring at her surroundings while figuring out her next book.

If you’d like to see what Misha’s up to at the moment, you can find her on these social networks:

Tumblr | Twitter | Google Plus | Writing Blog

Excerpt

This had to be what dying felt like. Floating outside my body, waiting for that final link to my life to be severed, only vaguely aware of indescribable pain. More screams than I could count rose up around me. Hundreds of footsteps beat against tiles. I couldn’t open my eyes if I wanted to. Not when it was easier to listen and wait. People shouted for a doctor or an IV, or a thousand other things that made no sense. I listened to all the chaos, trying to untangle it in my thoughts.

Soon, I could go. The peace around me was so relaxing, completely out of place in the clamor I heard. I wanted it. To rest forever in that peace. Why not? There was a very good reason, but I couldn’t call it to mind.

A numb buzz shot through my body and shattered my serenity.

It happened again. Only this time was more of a sharp pulse. The third time jolted like lightning. The fourth…Hell. Suddenly, the screams were coming from me. My heart’s relentless thundering added to my torment.

Pain.

Everywhere.

My chest burned like fire. It hurt to breathe. Cold air drove down my throat and into my lungs, amplifying the inferno in my chest. My skin felt scorched. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t right.

I had to see. I had to understand why pain dominated my existence like this. My eyes were fused shut. My breaths grew shallow, trying to draw air when there was none. I tried to clench my teeth. I bit hard plastic. A pipe. Cold air suddenly forced back into my lungs, out of time with my own breathing. This was wrong. It wasn’t safe. I had to see. The best I got was a little fluttering of my lashes.

A high-pitched beep shot through my head. It repeated again and again. I wanted to reach over and slam my fist into its source. My arm wouldn’t lift. Something kept it trapped. A scream rose up from the depths of my soul, but the pipe jammed inside my throat stifled the sound. I only managed a whimper, trying my best not to gag. More air blasted into my lungs against my will. What was going on? I was trapped in my own body, but why?

I needed to move. I had to move. Now. Before… Even… Even though… Panic gripped me. The beeps increased at a frenetic pace. I needed to move. To be gone. Didn’t matter where. Just not here. Not defenseless. Not trapped.

The air sucked out of my lungs. I gasped, choking on nothing, strangled by invisible fingers. I tried to convulse my body. To twist myself free of what’s holding me.

Nothing.

The air rushed back in a cold flood. Seconds later it left, only to return in the same amount of time.

There was a rhythm to the air. In… out... in… out… The breaths were slow—sleep-like. I concentrated on this rhythm, striving to clear my head. If I wanted out, I needed to think. Calmly. Clearly. Eventually, those irritating beeps slowed. I tried to focus past the sound.

Voices buzzed about me, adding to my need to see, to do something to protect myself. No one seemed to pay attention to me. Good. I could use that to my advantage.

I centered my every thought on moving my little finger. It finally jerked, but collided against something solid. So the thing trapping my arm was physical and too heavy for me to lift. It was better to be trapped than paralyzed. With luck I could escape my restraints. I tried my other hand, but it was cemented stuck as well. Right leg. Left leg. Damn it! Both trapped. I had to move!

No.

No, I needed to stay calm. I tried to make larger movements, biting the pipe in my mouth against the urge to scream in pain. There was no wiggle room.

Fearing that I might be blindfolded, I focused on blinking. It worked. My eyes opened and the blur faded, revealing ceiling tiles. Why would there be tiles? Where was the canvas of hospital tents? The distant sounds of bombs dropping? The power of their explosions rushing through my blood?

No. That wasn’t right. I wasn’t there.

Where was I, then?

I hope you enjoyed visiting with Misha today and that her new book has captured your imagination. Please leave an encouraging reply for Misha. You know how insecure we writers can get.

And here are a few China pics of the Great Wall of China--that climb is a truly exhilarating, yet at times terrifying experience. Coming down is just as dangerous as going up! But I'm glad I've had the experience. For those of you who've asked for more pics/stories, they will be forthcoming in my next post!

Where I climbed the wall.
Base camp at the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall of China
in the Guangou Valley. Upgraded during the Ming Dynasty.
Here Genghis Khan passed through on his thunderous journey to Beijing. 

From my vantage point on the Wall--looking down on the village below. I climbed the largest ancient structure on the planet!! Go me!