Nicole Flockton

Be whatever you want to be.

25 October 2009

Emotional rollercoaster

I've climbed back onto that sucker and it's really not a pleasant ride. :) For me to explain what I mean I have to go back to over a week and half ago.

October 14th was a momentous day for my DH and I, we closed on the house we purchased in Houston - we had a home again. We are mortgage payers again. Silly as it sounds, it's a nice feeling. The whole process of settlement is completely different here than it is back at home. We were present and so was the seller at handover. It was a lovely process and to meet the daughter of the previous owner made it even more special.

The next exciting thing was all our furniture, plates, beds, sheets and toys were all arriving at the house two days later. Yay get to see our stuff again. The only down side, my DH was flying out for work for two weeks the day after our stuff arrived!

So the morning of the big move I wake up all excited and do what I always do - check my phone for emails I may have received overnight. There sitting in my inbox is an email from my dad with an attachment. The attachment is from Harlequin Mills & Boon. Back in February I sent off a partial that I pitched at the RW Australia conference in 2008. I could see the letter and it was about 5 or 6 paragraphs long. My heart beat faster and I said to my DH, oh looks like I've got a rejection, but it doesn't look like its a form rejection so that's good. I guess the reason I thought it was a rejection was because the only exposure I had to a full request was a two paragraph letter.

So I went over to the computer and started it up. All the while dreading what I was going to find. So eventually I open the email, then the attachment and when I get it to a readable size I start to read it out to my DH. It wasn't a rejection but a request for a FULL!! The editor also went on to suggest some changes to make my heroine stronger. OH MY GOODNESS, editorial advice it was an amazing letter and I was on top of the world. Also she said that my style was fluet and my voice engaging and sparky. WOW!

It was a fabulous rollercoaster ride so far, but as with all rollercoasters, there is a downside. I guess that happened the next day when I waved my DH goodbye. The moment he left, it was like my kids became possessed. Needless to say for the rest of the week, there were tears and lack of sleep didn't help.

Throw in a couple of family bereavements which are doubly hard when you are thousands and thousands of miles away. And it's just got even hairer!

So now it's a week since DH left and I think I'm reaching the end of the ride. I feel a bit more in control. We spent last night at the house and I got to sleep in a bed I hadn't slept in for nearly 3 months. It was bliss. Also the kids loved seeing all their toys and played nicely with them. The most amazing thing was, we had no tv and really the kids didn't miss it. How much of watching TV is leading to my problems?

I'm hanging out for the day when we move in officially, I think we'll all be more grounded when we are surrounded by our stuff and can relax because it's our home.

Only a couple weeks to go.

JN

07 October 2009

Converted

We are getting into the digital age, well let's be honest we've been in it for a while. I've had a mobile phone for the last 15 years, computers at work and home for over 20 years but when it comes to reading I've always been a paperback type of girl.

I like the feel of a book in my hand, the turning of the pages, the flicking through to see what happens because I'm impatient (yes that is bad I know). The continual going back to the book to revisit characters, favourite scenes, crying and laughing and just sighing over the endings. Being transported to the Greek sunshine on Santorini, or the the smell of the vineyards in Italy or the Australian outback or even, the danger and excitement of a fire station, any place other than the house that needs cleaning, it will be there when I've finished visiting my favourite characters. :-)

But now you can buy e-books, where with just the press of a button you can turn the page, increase the font size, hold a super slim device in your hand instead of the weight of a historical saga.

I've resisted the lure of the e-reader. I've bought a few e-books and they've wallowed aimlessly on my hard drive. Two of the girls from Wink have e-readers. One raves over it, it's the only way to go now, the other, not sure what she thinks I'll have to ask her. I'll admit to have scoffing at them saying, nope paper books for me all the way.

Well I guess now I'll have to eat humble pie. My wonderful husband bought me an e-reader for my birthday and I LOVE IT!! Yes I'm being converted, but not totally. In a way I'm sad that I won't have all those favourite books by my favourite authors on my bookshelf, but instead they'll be on my hard drive. It does mean I can buy lots more books and my DH can't shake his head when he sees the metre high pile of books to be read on the floor. But I do have authors that are my absolute favourite and now I'll have paperback and digital version of their books. I guess I can live with that.

I've had it less than a month and I think I've read 6 books on it, I still have a pile of paperbacks I need to read, so I'm alternating between the two. The amazing thing is with the e-reader I'm reading books in a day and half. I can't flick through the books to see what's happening, I have to click that button and vicariously read and read and read till I find out what happens. The only downside is, that it's going to be hard to flick through the pages and find those favourite scenes when I want to avoid the housework!

So yes in the space of a month I've gone from being a non-believer of the wonders of e-readers to an absolute believer of the wonders of an e-reader. How many more are going to be converts in the near future?

JN