There I was, 65 year old straight girl, me in a writer's forum giving advice to young women who were struggling to write a sex scene in a novel.

My advice was:

Don't. :-)

Write as suits YOU. Never compare yourself with others - write in YOUR voice. Sex might sell but so do apples.

For example in my writing: Mind you you can practice and get better at it if you want to but seriously - I don't write about vampires, nor make romance more than a side plot and I'll never write graphic nor deviant sex.

My characters have sex, but the sex is not the reason for my novels, so why tell my reader how they did it...that's their business.

i am happy with the four fade in and out scenes in my novel and that is how I write sex.

It will not make me a better writer if I were to put graphic sex where graphic sex doesn't belong in an otherwise good story.

If you are a writer, consider this when writing a sex scene.:
Writing sex scenes can be a daunting task of balancing hot passion with believability. The sex should have a purpose in the story (unless it's a voyeuristic look into your protagonist's bedroom romps). Think about the characters involved, what does this encounter between the sheets mean for them?

Happiness is a CHOICE.

Happiness is NEVER dependent on other people.

Waiting around for things to be perfect will never bring LASTING happiness.

Smell every Rose.
Climb every Mountain.
Love every Day.
Happiness is not dependent on other people or what is happening to you. Claim JOY today.

The First Key to open the door to happiness is to train yourself to see the GOOD in things.
That makes me think of the books I loved as a child. Do you remember Pollyanna?
The Billabong books by Mary Grant Bruce conveyed a similar message. There were times when rural life was tough, during drought yet the characters in the novels, Jim, Nora, Wally, Tommy and Bob, maintained a positive mental attitude and took delight in what was going well for them and worked on whit a belief that if they thought positively and worked toward a better future things would turn out well, and they always did.
Of course life is not like a novel and we are not going to stumble across a chunk of gold as Bob did and get ourselves out of financial wows for all time by finding the gold seam but we can control our thoughts.

Today practice claiming JOY for your life, and look for the rose within the thorns.

I wish I had written it, :-).

Now that was a part of the advice given in this blog post. 25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing.

Be true to your own voice.

Typo free and some of the best advice Ive ever read, for writers, all here in one blog post by Chuck. Sure I knew most off it but I too get tempted to stray from my ideals and I find blogs like this helpful reminders of how to stay on track and true to action plan to my goals.
I will look at the other things he has written.

This 25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing is a brilliant article for a writer.
Very helpful at keeping one committed to their ideals ans keeping them on track with the issues they struggle with.

I am planning our winter tour in the caravan and one of the things I need to do is to look at computer carts and decide what office set up I will install in the caravan. I also need to work on my fitness to be ready for the lifestyle on tour.

That crap out not crap in should be my mantra this year lol. :-).
I struggle to get the balance of exercise and food portion control right with a full time creative life passion and all external reminders of the importance of exercise in order to write, assist me.
I liked the advice to not chase a genre or what publishers say they want you to write. That will help keep me true to writing the novels I want to write and to heck with how easy it will be to get my voice published. I know from my other creative fields, if you learn from others you can improve but if you copy others, you are just a half rate version of them and have copied the mistakes as well as the good bits but never learn the difference.

_

I made myself some mini healthy ingredient, (no sugar or artificial sweetener gunk) ice cream treats this morning and have them in the freezer for when an ice cream craving hits again. I got over my ice cream craving last night by eating some roasted almonds. I just don't like eating processed junk food though I do love ice cream.
With a little prior preparation and portion control I can have my ice cream and eat it too.

My mum always made a low fat low sugar version with skim milk fruit and gelatin.

I make a high fat, pure cream and nut version (add nuts afterwards) as it is more satisfying and I just eat less. The main thing I don't want is the sugar, cornstarch or artificial sweeteners or chemicals in the bought stuff.

I once owned an ice cream maker. I would not bother again. Just an ice cream tray and a hand beater and beat the mixture twice when it is semi frozen to get a lovely ice cream consistency and frankly - just make it as you like it.

A skim milk iced coffee with gelatin added as a thickener would make a low fat and carb slimmers version or sweeten with a little honey, it is twice as sweet as sugar so you use less. Or a little natural vanilla and some fruit. So many versions you can try.

Break yourself free of recipes, life in the kitchen becomes more fun :-) and frankly eating is too.

I made myself some mini healthy ingredient, (no sugar or artificial sweetener gunk) ice cream treats this morning and have them in the freezer for when an ice cream craving hits again. I got over my ice cream craving last night by eating some roasted almonds. I just don't like eating processed junk food though I do love ice cream.
With a little prior preparation and portion control I can have my ice cream and eat it too :-)_

Calories (also known as kilojoules) are a measure of how much heat is released in our bodies when we convert food energy into our own energy.

1kg of body weight on the scales contains approximately 700g of fat. Each gram of fat is worth 9 calories.

If you want to lose 0.5kg to 1kg of excess body fat each week, you have to reduce your daily calories by 500 to 1000. That is 3500 to 7000 calories over the course of 1 week.

Dieters frequently underestimate how much they eat and overestimate how active they are. The only way to be sure is to keep a record.

_
A Huge THANK YOU to the Police for giving up their New Year celebration with family to help keep us safe by doing Breathalyzer duty on New Year's eve - New Year's Day. We should all share this new year's resolution: If you have a drink, do not drive! #NYE2011 #safecelebrations


Thank you to all our essential service personnel, all the nurses and ambulance officers, rescue teams, firefighters. I wish all of you a very Happy New Year.

_Beautiful day today.

Christmas mince pies for breakfast and lunch, lol..

Reg s playing with Christmas gift fishing gear. Busy novel and blog writing and also reading "2 books, "How to write Mystery and the roller coaster of suspense" = Good so far.

"Thanks but this isn't for us," = Excellent so far.

Discarded the highly rated, "Bird by Bird, based on the first chapter read.
Teaches me to try to grab in the first chapter.

_ Artslim

The Art of Natural Slimming

 

You are Worthy of Love. Happiness and love do not come as a size dress or a weight on the scales.

Surround yourself with positive people who care for and support you.

No that does not mean you need to join a cultish weight loss program and spend half your life on a forum mixing with people who will give you hugs when you share your life problems, or praise you when you loose kilo.

            By all means if you spend your working hours in a highly active job as a labourer then spending your spare time on line in forums may be beneficial to you. However chances are that the reason you are reading this is because you have not been eating as healthy as you would like to and have not been as active or exercised as much as your body needs in order to be as healthy as it can be.

           

Question:

What is the best use of my time now?

 

Your Answer:

………………………………………………………

 

I will allow you to fill in those blanks for yourself, as this is your life you want to improve.

 

My Answer

My reply is that I need to achieve and maintain sufficient motivation to stay focused on caring for my self.

I will best achieve this by mixing with positive life loving and achieving people. Not necessarily ones who are only interested in weight loss and body fitness.

 

Tip:

The art of natural slimming is more about what is going on in your mind outside or the focus on your weigh. That means you really can stop weighing yourself every day or even every week, if you choose. You really do not have to join a program and weigh in every week in order to be naturally healthy slim.

 

Warning:

Anyone can lose weight. Just dehydrate.

Your body is mainly composed of water. Water is as essential to your life as oxygen. In good health you can only live for three days without water. In sickness or infancy this might only be twenty-four hours. Dehydration will show as weight loss. This is not something to become elated about. Get off the scales, eat a balanced diet and drink more water.

 

 

Technical information:

Textbook of Medical Physiology states that "the total amount of water in a man of average weight (70 kilograms) is approximately 40 litres, averaging 57 percent of his total body weight.

In a newborn infant, this may be as high as 75 percent of the body weight, but it progressively decreases from birth to old age, most of the decrease occurring during the first 10 years of life. Also, obesity decreases the percentage of water in the body, sometimes to as low as 45 percent.

There is not, and cannot be, a figure that is exactly the same for all people. Jackson's (1985) Anatomy & Physiology for Nurses gives a figure of 60% for the proportion of body-weight attributable to water

I did an entire blog filled with images and stories of all my characters - then as I have a weebly pro account I made all those pages private other than to a proof reader, as they contain 'spoilers'.
When I write I can see and I know all my characters - they are more real to me than my neighbours and friends, lol, they have become a part of my family - I am that close to them - I know them and they know me. Our relationship is intimate
My novel begins in the last 1800's and continues on into the 1940's to 1950's long before the advent of the modern Super phone.

I think about the characters in my novel as much as I think about real life - they are in there - part of my life. I am beyond needing to structure anything about them other than to edit what I've written about these real (to me) people. I hope my readers think they are real too.

Get to Know Your Antagonist Writing Exercise | WritersDigest.com www.writersdigest.com
Advice for the fiction writer:
Go through magazines until you find a picture of your antagonist. Post the picture above your computer. Spend at least five minutes three times a week with it.

Having a lovely start to the weekend

I watched trail running on TV - does that count as exercise?

I read some L.M.Montgomery, did some editing of my novel and I have written some blogs. And it is only midday :-)

WOW! Weekend off to a great start here.

‎I just read the first chapter of the wonderful classic "Anne of Green Gables" It broke so many editing 'rules.' Used words like 'little' and 'very' and two uses of 'very' in the one sentence....Editing Inspirations from Anne of green Gables. www.kathyshell.com_