Climbing Mt Ngauruhoe

Holidays over. Phew. And a new month, which is even better, cos July has been, quite frankly, a stinker.

Yep, you guessed it, moany post alert! I haven't had one for a while so I figure I'm due one.

Keeping going with this writing stuff hasn't got any easier I'm afraid. I've stoppped thinking of climbing Everest. I'm now thinking in terms of Ngauruhoe. This is a mountain in NZ - for all you LOTR fans out there, it's Mt Doom. Which is a very appropriate title.

Why the change? Well, with Everest if you have the right equipment and skill level, and the weather is on your side, you can get to the top. I admit that in my forays up Everest my skill wasn't great, nor my equipment the best. But then you don't know these things until you fall off. The other thing I needed was the weather but somehow or other, the right combination of skill, equipment and weather has never lined up favourably for me. However, the thing about Everest is that I mostly enjoyed climbing it.

But I'm not these days which is why it feels like I'm climbing Ngauruhoe instead. This is a mountain comprised totally of shale. Climbing it is like climbing a massive sand dune. One step up, two steps back. There's no joy in climbing it (at least, when I actually did climb it years ago, I hated every moment of it), because all you do is trudge and keep trudging. What you need to get to the top is dogged determination and the belief you can do it.

And that's what I'm struggling to find. Dogged determination and self belief. One step forward is always accompanied by two steps back. It's dispiriting.Which makes it hard to keep going. What's the point when no matter how hard you climb, you don't get any higher?

So, what do you all do when you're feeling this way? Got any tips for me? God knows I could use 'em! :-)

Jackie is Climbing the Mountain

Chapters 2 and 3 are now in the hands of the editor. So is my sorry excuse for a synopsis. I'm not very good at them I've decided. I hope it was better than my last one - I think it is. I concentrated entirely on the emotional growth of the romance with barely any external stuff going on, so that's the important thing. It's going to be quite an emotionally complicated story though I think. The heroine is thinking her problem with the hero will be one thing, but really that's just a cover for something that's going on underneath. There will be a deeper issue for her that she refuses to see until it all goes horribly wrong. Hmmm, usually it's my heroes who get the complicated stuff. Not this time apparently.

Anyway, the one good thing I do know is that the editor liked the conflict. She thought it was realistic, consistent and believable. Big yays for me. Apart from the fact that the emotional barriers are quite large ones. Not so big yays.

Which brings me to the part about the mountain. I'm feeling now I'm at the bottom of it and it's a very long way to the top. If the ed wants more, I have to write the rest of the story and that's feeling like a mammoth task. Maybe the pressure's getting to me, I don't know. Maybe I just need to start writing and get myself enthused. Maybe I need to refill the well a little.

Whatever it is, I'm going to leave you with a personal favourite video of mine (courtesy of Miss Maisey Yates). Please note that I actually do not want to make love to the mountain (unless it looks a lot like my hero in which case I could be persuaded).


BTW, if you want to know more about the Modern Heat winner of the last Mills and Boon contest, visit www.sevensassysisters.com. Miss Jilly Aston is in the house.