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Friday, June 03, 2011

What are you looking forward to? by Paula Roe

June not only means my birthday (this Sunday the 5th if any of you want to get me something ), it also means we're half-way through 2011. Already - can you believe it? And with the mid-year my thoughts turn to my goals - what I've done, what's yet to be met, and what I'm looking forward to for the rest of the year. So my list-toppers are:

Winter. In my neck of the woods, the warm weather lasts close to seven months (October to April) so a chance to rug up in winter clothes and drink hot soup is a novelty indeed. I love the bite of a cold morning, your breath on the air and the gorgeous winter scarves and boots that abound. Love winter!

End of financial year sales - I love to shop. Yes, apparently I have champagne tastes on a beer income but it is an addiction I'm not really confident of overcoming. Bags, jewelry, stationery and electronic gadgets are my weakness, as well as books of the online-purchase-instant-gratification variety. Shop assistants and eBay love me.

Our writing conference. Romance Writers of Australia are celebrating their 20th national conference in August and I'm thrilled and excited to be a part of that - not just as a speaker but as a member of our wonderful writing organization. Many writers Down Under (including me) simply would not have been published if it weren't for their support and encouragement.

Edits for my next book. Yes, it may seem strange but I'm eager for those revisions that will mark my Harlequin Desire #6. I actually wrote the original version of this story close to thirteen years ago, so the journey to get Luke and Beth's story on the shelves has been a long one!

Replenishing the well - many writers I know have another creative outlet, separate to writing, that stretches their brain and keeps the spark burning. Because I love playing with fonts and colors, I design websites. And because I'm a Gemini, I'm also working on a bunch of other stories and writing projects (of course, none are quite complete as yet...)

Writing that next book. And so the circle of writing life goes on . My best part of writing is the actual planning. I love having that new idea story spark, working out who my characters are, what problems they have and will get into, and how it all comes together. I also love getting close to my deadline because sure enough, I'll have an "ah-HA!" moment and come up with some little detail that inevitably makes the story better. This always happens and I've learned to embrace the moment, not groan about the extra work that's needed

So, what are you all looking forward to? A special occasion, a time of month, an event? Post a comment and you could score a copy of my latest book, Promoted to Wife? as well as some stationery goodies.

Award-winning Paula Roe's next Harlequin Desire (title as yet unconfirmed) will be a 2012 release. You can check out her backlist on www.paularoe.com as well as writing articles and helpful links.

22 comments:

Christina Hollis said...

Love those bags, Paula! It's summer here, so I'm looking forward to eating tomatoes, peppers, figs and grapes, all warm from the greenhouse. It'll be a few weeks yet, though.

Serena said...

Hi Paula,
Nice insight into what makes you tick! So you like the cold? Then you should enjoy your little trip down South to the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild! It's pretty cold here :) Pity you're not staying longer though, because we're the shopping capital of Australia!! You might have to wait for August and the Romance Writers of Australia's Conference!
Hugs

parv said...

What am I looking forward to? Romance Conference in Melbourne - check. Roadtrip with Jennie Adams to get there - oh yeah, check. eBay and online shopping - double check. Seeing my current book come to life - check when it's working, head-desk when it doesn't. Then there's finishing my new all-about-me home, losing weight. Can you really look forward to that or is it more a suffer-through kind of thing? Learning new stuff. I could be here all day.

Laney4 said...

We have a "wine party" in July most years in order to help us drink wine my daughter and I win from our badminton tournaments. This year I won 3 bottles and she won 2, but 4 more have been donated to the cause. What our numerous guests don't realize is that one week after the party is our "30th wedding anniversary" (too) this year. Some relatives might bring cards, but we don't advertise the big events because we don't want guests to feel that they have to bring a card or a gift. We sincerely just want their "presence", so we call it a wine party and ask them to bring a potluck item. I have learned through the years not to provide a barbecue, as several (rude) people confirm the day before the party that they will attend and then they and their families don't show up, nor do they ever call to apologize or give a reason. I don't have a lot of room in my deep freeze for all the leftovers, and buns don't last long, so by having a potluck, it doesn't matter how many people actually turn up because there will still be enough food. I also ask guests to bring containers with them so they can take a little of everything home, rather than just what they brought, as who wants a huge bowl of leftovers?

I too could be here all day listing all the things I am looking forward to, because it is always better to see the glass as half full (IMHO), but the above is the biggest event on our horizon. And more good news? It forces me to clean up my house and look at it through others' eyes every year. (Last year, I asked my brother-in-law if he could fix a piece of siding hanging on our garage right before the party, but he told me it was rotten underneath. He and my sister were visiting from 2000+ miles away in their motor home, so they offered to stay after the party to re-side our entire garage and back part of our house to match. So now I have beautiful new siding! Right now the same couple are out in their motor home, still 2000+ miles away, mind you, but I'm wondering if they'll be here in 4 weeks for the party. I told them we need a new roof, LOL!)

Jo's Daughter said...

I'm invited for an oldfashioned picnic & I'm looking forward to it. Already bought a new dress & am ready to go :)

Happy (early) Birthday to you!

Anonymous said...

Love those bags! I'm looking forward to the summer so I can pack up my tote bag and have a picnic outside in the grass!

Rachael Johns said...

I'm looking forward to lots of similar things to you :) THe RWA conf in Melbourne being a HUGE one. I'm also looking forward to seeing my first book cover soon and my first book being published in December. That will be a GREAT Christmas. x

Lil said...

I look forward most to August since it seems to be the time period when all of the family manage to get time off and everyone gets together at one venue for a couple of weeks.

Jane said...

Happy Birthday, Paula. I also look forward to the big sales. I am really excited about all the blockbusters coming out this summer.

Nas said...

Happy Birthday, Paula! So where do I send your gift? Okay, no problem I'm sending sunshine your way! After snuggling in for winter, you might need some!

Congrats on the release of, Promoted to Wife?

Pat Cochran said...

Looking forward to summer with all
the grandchildren, especially all
the birthdays in August which includes
my 75th! My goodness, I never thought
about reaching this momentous occasion! Never ever!

BTW, Happy Birthday, Paula! Hope you
have a very special celebration!!

Pat Cochran

ev said...

Normally I am looking forward to more outings with hubby and the dogs in the RV. However, this year, we are heading out to L.A. for our daughter's college graduation the end of this month.
That would be on the 26th, the day after Leon Day. What's Leon Day- Noel spelled backwards- exactly 6 months til Xmas!!! Agggghhhhhhh.......

Paula Roe said...

Hi everyone and thanks for commenting! Aren't those bags just fab? I could shop for them all day...

Christina - I love homegrown vegies, especially tomatoes! They taste so much richer than the store-bought ones :-)

Serena - oo, shopping - very dangerous for my credit card LOL

Paula Roe said...

Looks like picnics and BBQs are the go, too. Must be the wonderful outdoors, the people and the yummy food :-)

Lolarific said...

Happy Birthday! You and my oldest happen to share a birthday! That's kinda awesome.

We're looking forward to his birthday and his party. We scheduled his party for next weekend because he has a tennis match on his actual birthday, but he's having a cool bowling party next saturday and we're all excited about that.

I'm also looking forward to school being out, with so many activities here at the end of the year it's hard to sneak in reading time. So I'm looking forward to some normalcy and getting some more books moved from the TBR shelf to the Read shelf. And also looking forward to school starting again. We're hoping my youngest will start pre-k this year and I will finally have some alone time during the day(!!!!!!)! I definitely plan to get more reading done then!

Paula Roe said...

yes, not only is tax time at the end of this month, but Christmas is only six months away! Arghh!!!

Paula Roe said...

Rachel, that is one fine birthday present to have:-D

Mary Preston said...

I'm looking forward to my trip to the book store to spend my book allowance. I have to budget it or we would not eat.

marypres@gmail.com

Laurie G said...

Have fun tomorrow! Eat lots of cake and ice cream!

I'm looking forward to the November birth of my first grandchild! I'm getting all the kid's old toys and books ready.

The baby's birth will make all these gray hairs worth while.

Laney4 said...

It's now 12:01 am where I live.
Happy birthday, Paula!

Michele L. said...

Hi Paula!
Oh wow, Happy Birthday to you! Loved your blog! Gosh, what am I looking forward to? Tomorrow! I look forward to another day of sunshine and being with my hubby.

Hopefully, my hubby and I will go on vacation at the end of summer, so that is another thing I am looking forward to!

Also, love the bags! My girlfriend and I are ga-ga for bags right now. What's up with that, I don't know, but it is our thing at the moment. We always hit the clearance racks at Kohl's and JCPenney's. We always find some great purses and wallets at very cheap prices.

Paula Roe said...

thanks for playing, everyone. The important thing is we can always look forward to something, no matter where we are on the happiness scale :-)

And the winner of freebies is...LOLARIFIC! yay! Email me and let me know your mailing addy and I'll get it off to you asap.