A Brief Catch Up and Yoga...

I'm not sure where this week has gone actually, but it's almost Friday again.

I've almost finished the final edit on my short story, now that I've got my formatting sorted out. Some of my new lines didn't indent to where they were set to- no idea why, but it was just one or two lines each on pages 3,4, and 5...

Even stripping all the formatting out of the document and re-doing the settings didn't sort it out- that document has been highlighted more than my hair!

Having asked some writer friends how to solve the problem, both of the suggested solutions were needed to resolve the issue.

It was only recently, when I was reading an article by Sue Moorcroft in Writers Forum magazine about presentation, that I discovered pressing the space bar five times at the beginning of each new paragraph was not a good idea. Apparently it makes extra work for an editor, so I thought I better learn how to set indents properly, and started with my short story.

(As you may have realised I'm still learning how to use the assorted options on Word 2007, so I won't be switching to the 2010 version anytime soon...)

Actually being able to sit down at the computer for a while was quite good, as I'm still aching from the yoga class that I attended on Tuesday. Now I did yoga when I was younger (much much younger) and I knew I was capable of doing the various positions, and admittedly some of them I had no problem with, but sadly the rest were not as successful.

Yes, I'd had one of those 'moments'. My brain still thought I could do it, but my body had decided that a) I'm not 20 years old anymore and b) my body is no longer that flexible...:-)

I'm sure I'll improve with time and practise, as my writing has...

Competition to Find UK Romance Writing Talent-Details

Hope you're having a relaxing Bank Holiday Monday (for those in the UK).

Just seen a tweet from Piatkus Entice (a digital-first Romance imprint) about a competition to find new UK authors for their imprint. This is a great opportunity.

They are looking for " novels in three genres: romance/contemporary women's fiction, historical romance and paranormal romance and is open to all writers in the UK, including new writers and also authors who have been previously published as long as they are not under contractual obligation to another publisher."

One winner from each of the three genres to be published as an ebook by Piatkus Entice in 2013.

Closing date is midnight BST on the 30th September. The winners will be announced at the gala Festival of Romance 2012 Awards on Friday 16th November.

The submission must include a completed manuscript, so I won't be able to enter. But if you have something suitable then here's what you need to include.

• A completed manuscript of 80,000 – 100,000 words which must be double spaced and typed in Times New Roman font, point size 12 and which must be your own original work.
• A one-page synopsis of the plot.
• Cover blurb (no more than 200 words).
• Your biography and photograph.
• Your contact information including your telephone number and email address.

Full terms and conditions are here.

And best of all submission is both free and by e-mail. But do make sure you follow the instructions, as it would be silly to get excluded because you'd not followed the submission terms they've set out.

Good luck to all who enter...