Nicole MacDonald's Blog, page 3

Pin of the week! Elements...

I suck at chemistry (literally puts me to sleep...) so when I spotted this I thought it rather neat! I might actually remember some of it now (just don't ask me to turn them into equa- *zzzzzzzz*)

Click here to open it up :)
If you’re not having fun, then you’re doing it wrong!
Nic
Need a break from vamps, werewolves and teeth grindingly frustrating love triangles?Try The Arrival, four non-oversexed friends (according to a reviewer) creating chaos on a whole new planet after dabbling in the arcane…
The BirthRight Trilogy — screw being the damsel in distress!

The Arrival, is currently available for FREE at at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Kobo : Smashwords : Sony

Chocolate, tea-cups and the 4.30 cutoff

Yay for Friday’s (sorry for those in the Northern Hemisphere, we beat you to it ;p), it couldn’t come soon enough. Not that it’s been a ridiculously hard week (quite productive) but I’m recovering from a nasty cold, which triggered my sciatica (or Sy, as a workmate affectionately refers to it ‘How’s Sy today?’) and I got to 4.30pm at which point my brain decided to shutdown. In the space of ten minutes I dropped a glass—one of those thin varieties that shatters into more pieces than seems possible; then while stirring the dip (which I’d forgotten about in the freezer, so I was trying to un-ice it a little), I fumbled while putting it into the fridge. Crack, splat and that was the end of that.This made me a little nervous of handling my pretty teacup. I needed to clean it before I went home, but I didn’t want to break it! I really am bad with crockery/glasswear when tired. Now this teacup is rather new for me, I bought it as a pressie for myself when my last book cheque came through. Not a major spend up *grin* (need to be in the top 100 for that!) but something that makes me smile every time I look at it. I just love pretty tea sets. I even have a board (here) on Pinterest devoted to crockery. Here’s a pic of my lovely little cup and saucer set.



Pretty isn’t it! Not wanting to risk breaking it I had to go appeal to our work neighbors. These fabulous people do the advertising for a certain chocolate factory in NZ and they nobly provided me with chocolate for my arduous task. I’m happy to say the teacup has survived another day (though for how long who knows, Glenn’s taking bet’s if you want ;p). Onto the weekend! I’m looking forward to tomorrow, the weather station is promising thunderstorms—something that ALWAYS makes this writer a happy girl. Have a fabulous weekend everyone!
Laugh! ‘Cause no one makes it out alive
Nic
Sick of all the Mary-Sues who whine, simper and constantly bite their lower lip? Try The Arrival, four girls who can take a punch, give it back tenfold and save the freaking planet at the same time.
The BirthRight Trilogy — because girls really do kickass.

The Arrival, is currently available for FREE at at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Kobo : Smashwords : Sony

Do you see weight?

As mentioned in my last blog post, I enjoy reading the Daily Mail and this articletoday made me pause.

Did you notice weight as a four year old? I don’t remember rating weight on a scale of whether or not I’d be friends with a person… Anyway, that got me to thinking about peoples looks and how we see them. Most of my main characters are inspired by people I know—but I do wonder sometimes that if I showed you a picture of the person, would you be able to pick the character? I’m not going to show pics for privacy reasons *grin* but I’ll try something else. Let’s take Kassie. Next to Cat, Kassie appears to be the favorite female character (naturally, cause she is awesome). Kassie is based on my friend Sandra (hence the name Kassandra ;p) whom I met at my first permanent fulltime job. It was in a call centre; a crazy full-on job where you had to log your bathroom breaks and could easily take 200+ incoming calls a day.I have a great appreciation for decent call centre staff and very little patience for the shoddy ones. I KNOW how a call centre is run, and yeah I will ask for the manager/supervisor if I’m given a brushed off excuse of an answer. Glenn hates ringing call centres as he seems to get stuck in a never ending circle of button pushing without ever reaching a person *hee* But if he passes the phone to me I’ll get through in about 20secs ( *hint* pressing 0 or # repeatedly often works if you’re really stuck).Whoops! Let’s get back on track shall we?In our team at work Sandra was the top sales person. We weren’t actually working in the sales area but still had small sales targets to meet each month. Sandra managed to top even those in the actual sales department. When she left a couple of years later, there were more than a few jokes going around that the company would fold without her.The thing is, when you meet her you wouldn’t believe it. A petite woman of 40+ with a face that shows the love of the sun (if not NZ’s high UV rays), hands that are always moving, a mass of curly hair that likes to frizz,  and an almost ‘anxious’ feel to her energy. She speaks at a kazillion miles an hour in a voice with a curious mix of accents, American, Malaysian, Chinese, NZ. She is a tiny, full-on power house. At first, I didn’t know what to make of her, then somehow we ended up going to watch a movie together. Our team, like many/most workplaces bonded over alcohol and Sandra and I have one very random thing in common – an allergy to alcohol. This is also why drinking isn’t mentioned that much in my books—it doesn’t actually occur to me, until someone else points it out *lol*. So as the two team oddballs, we decided to go watch some action movie.I couldn’t tell you what the movie was, but I can tell you I spent most the movie cringing in my seat while hoping like mad that no one in the seats behind us would brain us in our seats. Why?Sandra likes to talk in movies…Not the ‘so, how was your day?’ style, rather a running commentary of thoughts about what she’s watching – ‘OMG he’s SO hot. Oh yes please, I’ll have a piece of that. Kill him!! Pull the trigger damn it! You pussy!’It’s really funny to remember it, but yeah at the time I was crapping myself. I’ve been brought up pretty straight, and talking/fidgeting/opening noisy food parcels in the theatre are MAJOR no-no’s in my family.After that blood pressure raising experience you’d think I just have legged it from the theatre and never looked back. Nope. While it terrified me, it also intrigued me (it horrified Glenn, he adores Sandra but refuses point blank to go to a movie with her *hee*) and I ended up babysitting for her, watching over her two just as full-on daughters. She is one of my closest friends in life. When it came to creating friends for Cat, I couldn’t imagine not having her there. I describe Kassie the way I see Sandra—I know she looks physically different, but at the same time, she looks exactly as I describe. I think once you get a feel for someone’s energy, then it doesn’t matter if they weigh two hundred pounds, or are a little old lady (Ada is based on my Nana after-all). If you really, truly SEE a person, then none of that other stuff matters, they’ll always be gorgeous.
Laugh! ‘Cause no one make’s it out alive
Nic
Sick of all the Mary-Sues who whine, simper and constantly bite their lower lip? Try The Arrival, four girls who can take a punch, give it back tenfold and save the freaking planet at the same time.
The BirthRight Trilogy — because girls really do kickass.

The Arrival, is currently available for FREE at at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Kobo : Smashwords : Sony

Pin of the Week - Secret doorways

So very cool! Which is your favorite?


Laugh! ‘Cause no one make’s it out alive
Nic
Sick of all the Mary-Sues who whine, simper and constantly bite their lower lip? Try The Arrival, four girls who can take a punch, give it back tenfold and save the freaking planet at the same time.
The BirthRight Trilogy — because girls really do kickass.

The Arrival, is currently available for FREE at at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Kobo : Smashwords : Sony

Confession time!

I love writing. I love creating stories that whisk me away and give me lots of time in my imaginary (until proven real that is..) worlds.Sometimes though, and now more and more frequently, I don’t really like talking/writing about writing. I don’t really like telling people what they’re doing wrong/how to improve it, as if I am some vast pillar of knowledge when I am still very much learning.Here’s the skinny on how to write. Just do it. Put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, or voice to dragon (Dragon Speech for those of you wondering what the f#$% I’m talking about). Don’t take just one persons advice and don’t believe negative ninnies. Have faith in your work.Yay! Confession over! Now onto what I do love doing. Reading. Observing. Observing how others react to situations. And that brings me to my second confession…
I love reading the Daily Mail. It’s trashy, ridiculous, has teenage editors (or so anyone with a basic understanding of English is lead to believe), and can be wildly incorrect while also spot on. But above all else, it is constantly thought provoking (especially the comments section).So, my new plan for my blog is to aim for a once a week (or more if I’m feeling particularly ranty) discussion on an article on the Daily Mail. I will still be doing my pin of the week, I missed last week’s pin because I came down with a nasty cold that I’m still recovering from. Which brings me to this week’s rant (non Daily Mail this time).
Why do people ask how you are when they’re clearly not interested?
It’s rather fun to reply honestly. To watch the double take and the brain freeze as they attempt to process what the appropriate response is. Or, some just smile cheerily as they charge by while calling, ‘that’s great!’ Which does provide a giggle. I think it’s funny how well trained people can be to an extent, until you provide them with the untrained response. Because naturally, if someone asks you ‘how are you?’, you’re required to respond, ‘fine/great/wonderful – thanks for asking, how are you?’ and they holler their reply as dismissively as they asked it while walking by.
Kinda like dealing with Sheldon…
Anyone else notice this? Have any fun responses for that question? Had any awesome reactions?


Laugh! ‘Cause no one make’s it out alive J
Nic
Sick of all the Mary-Sues who whine, simper and constantly bite their lower lip? Try The Arrival, four girls who can take a punch, give it back tenfold and save the freaking planet at the same time.
The BirthRight Trilogy — because girls really do kickass.

The Arrival, is currently available for FREE at at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Kobo : Smashwords : Sony

Are you wanting more reviews? Here's your chance!

A reader/writer friend of mine is looking for writers interested in a Read for Review deal. Interested?? Then keep reading!


Hey there authors!!So I just want to let you know about some opportunities for authors out there who are wanting to promote their work, get opinions from future readers and just meet some all-round awesome people!!For those of you who are not yet using goodreads, I suggest you go visit that site. It's a great place to find fellow authors, start a fan base, and just organise your future works and even give people a taste of your work!!One group that I know of is looking for R4R's (Read 4 Reviews) which means that you give them a mbi/ePub/PDF of your finished/almost finished work, and tell them how many copies they are licensed to give out, and then they then pass it out and you get feedback and reviews. You can make new author friends this way, while improving and advertising your work!If you are interested in this opportunity, or any other similar opportunity, then email mods4awesomekingdom AT gmail.com for more info, or contact me and I'll pass you on to my friend.
Get in touch if this is something you'd like to do! More reviews attracts more readers ; )
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, available FREE at at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Kobo : Smashwords : SonyAwakening available at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : Smashwords : iTunes US : iTunes UK : SonyFeel the Burn available at Amazon : AmazonUK : Smashwords : Kobo : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Barnes & Noble : Sony

Pin of the Week

A fairy tale garden entrance! I would so love this in my garden ;)



Take care all!Nic The Arrival, available FREE at at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Kobo : Smashwords : SonyAwakening available at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : Smashwords : iTunes US : iTunes UK : SonyFeel the Burn available at Amazon : AmazonUK : Smashwords : Kobo : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Barnes & Noble : Sony

Pin of the week

This one actually made me cringe a little at the bottom pic - but only cause it looks SO darn real!! There are some incredibly talented people out there!
Take care all!Nic The Arrival, available FREE at at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Kobo : Smashwords : SonyAwakening available at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : Smashwords : iTunes US : iTunes UK : SonyFeel the Burn available at Amazon : AmazonUK : Smashwords : Kobo : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Barnes & Noble : Sony

It finally feels official

Funny how not having a title makes a piece of writing feel even less than a draft. I've been working away at the plot for the book that follows the trilogy and leads the way to the next series on Gar’nyse. But I didn't have a title! Just a working ‘Gar’nyse tale’ title which felt very blah. Also, while I knew what things I wanted to ‘tie up’ in this book, I still wasn't inspired. Thankfully though, I got back into my running last week and POW! It hit me *grin* I figured out what the first half of the story needed. I chatted excitedly to Glenn about it on the way home from the supermarket that night then complained that I didn't yet have a title. Glenn's a person who’s great at crosswords and pretty quick with figures – two things that evade me completely. Anyway, he got me to rattle off the titles then promptly said, ‘AfterBurn, a tale of Gar’nyse.’So there you have it. Two things that had been annoying me for months solved, just like that.


The first half of AfterBurn will be about those left behind at the Castle, and how they cope waiting for the news. The second half will be the return of everyone. It will be a full on tale that will lead onto the next series that I’m plotting.
Can’t wait to share more with you all! Guess I better get back to the drafting of it then *grin* Take care all!Nic The Arrival, available FREE at at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Kobo : Smashwords Awakening available at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : Smashwords : iTunes US : iTunes UKFeel the Burn available at Amazon : AmazonUK : Smashwords : Kobo : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Barnes & Noble

Pin of the week - something pretty!

I can't resist sparkles, even more so when they're THIS gorgeous!


I just loooveeee the 'rose' cut of the gem - described on Pinterest as 

'A deep red rubellite gem of a magnificent 42.82cts is expertly set in a hand sculpted 18K white gold regal mounting reminiscent of the Eiffel tower from the side and accented with 4.12ctw of white diamonds'

Have a fab safe weekend everyone!

Take care all!Nic The Arrival, available FREE at at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Kobo : Smashwords Awakening available at Amazon : AmazonUK : Barnes & Noble : Smashwords : iTunes US : iTunes UKFeel the Burn available at Amazon : AmazonUK : Smashwords : Kobo : iTunes US : iTunes UK : Barnes & Noble