Today I take up the challenge set by the Gauntleteers.

I hereby declare that I will polish and send out "The Heartbone" and "The Thief of Hearts" before 29th Feb,(---ooh it's a leap year, that's appropriate, is it a blue moon too?)

Then I will either write a complete but appallingly rough 70,000 word first draft of "The Artificers of Solidor", or write, polish and send out a short story based on the lives and issues of the same Artificers of Solidor. Or both.

I am hoping I will survive this. I set up my Live Journal bio yesterday, and then proceded through a comedy of errors to find a) the garage door control didn't work, b) while I was trying to close the damn thing, I hadn't put the car brake on properly and it was now rolling with intent towards a tree and the road, and c) when I raced to it and hurled myself into the driver's seat and hauled the brake on, I miscalculated where my face was and walloped my left eyebrow into the side of the doorsill and split the tissue below like a ripe plum 2cm x 3 mm deep. Pouring blood everywhere I went in search of a helpful nurse at Dr-Surgery closing time

With my face now taped back into a semblence of me, I am wondering what really happened, what it means. "Is my body and mind protesting the Gauntlet or are the Dark Forces already out to stop me one way or another."

Jessica lives in the Hills to the East of Perth, and writes amidst eucalypt forests sometimes in the company of parrots, magpies, ravens, and sometimes in the company of two mad cats, Lily and Doushka.

In January 2007 she had the privilege of attending Clarion South in Brisbane, Queensland, 6 solid weeks "in crucible" with 16 other rising stars of the Spec Fic writing community and 6 topflight writers and editors. During this process her various writing organs, ie heart, mind and soul were removed, assessed, modified and returned to her by an unidentified energy form (which she hopes was her muse not an alien). She was then sent home to the Hills to recover.

Now, after the customary One-Year Clarion Fallow period, she is ready to write again, and sits with pen poised. Are you ready for Jessica's post Clarion writings? Watch this space...

Well, jessicavivien.com is finally a reality, and I did it all myself, including registering my domain, forwarding, launching it etc in about 6 hours. I'd really love to hear your feedback,- preferably in terms of what you think would improve it. I KNOW it is very simple and rather static and probably hideously oldfashioned, and needs some strange quirky elements, but it is a beginning So far it is just a front page, and I have yet to do the pages with my writing and pictures and links to all and sundry.

And then once that is done, I'll want to make it stunning and original like Shaun Tan's beautiful page: www.shauntan.net. And get some different photos so it ain't the same mugshot everywhere.

Current Mood: bouncy