Cassandra Dean's Blog: Blog of Bloggy Blogness, page 38
November 11, 2011
The Romance Reviews YES! Party
Hey Peeps,
For your chance to win a copy of ENSLAVED, head on over to The Romance Reviews YES! Party!
Lots of fun stuff is going on there, heaps and heaps of prizes and general frivolity! Check it out!
November 2, 2011
My word, it's November!
Where did the year go? How can it be November already? I guess we should have a look at what's happening out there this month. What do you think? 
NaNoWriMo kicks off this month, a great time to help you finish your work-in-progress. Starting 1 November and over the course of the month, NaNoWriMo encourages you to write a 50,000 word novel.
Hayfever has returned. Ugh. Yesterday, I had it so bad a friend ordered me to the chemist to appropriate some antihistamines. Yay for spring in Australia!
Yesterday as well, the Melbourne Cup was run. The race that stops the nation certainly stopped my office – we watched the big race on the telly and cheered as Dunaden was declared the 2011 winner after the closest photo finish in Melbourne Cup history.
The Romance Reviews YES! Party has commenced! I'll be featured 12 November. Head on over to win prizes!
From 19-22 November, I'll be at The Romance Studio for their Thanksgiving Party! Come on over and say hi.
I'm working on Roman Man and TEACH ME and some other bits and pieces. Oh, and check out my tumblr for random pictures and stuff!
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October 24, 2011
Writing weekend* debrief
Our Writing Weekend* was a massive success!
Lucy and I rocked up at the hotel Friday night, had a cheeky beverage in the bar and then it was up to our rooms to plot and plan, after which we wrote and wrote and wrote and didn't emerge until Sunday.
Well, not quite.
We learnt a lot during our inaugural Writing Weekend* and one of the things we learned was the necessity of breaks. We spent a lot of time chatting: about our works in progress, TV, how Tim Minear is now my bestest friend…These sessions helped fire our creativity, helped sort our thoughts out so we could enter once again to the fray.
Both of us also left the weekend with a clearer picture of who our characters are. Prior to the weekend, I was struggling with the hero and heroine of Roman Man. Their characterisations just wouldn't gel, and I found it really difficult to write their story when I had no idea who these people were. Now, however, I finally know who they are! Caloo! Calay! Yay for writing weekends*!
Now we are planning our next Writing Weekend*, which will probably be in an caravan park (ooh, classy). Of course, said caravan park will be in the wilds of nature, maybe even McLaren Vale or the Barossa…Is that a winery I spy? Hmm, I should probably take a little break and make sure that wine doesn't taste horrible. It's Doing the Winemakers a Favour 
What do you guys think? Writing Weekend* fun for everyone? Any suggestions for us?
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October 11, 2011
Bloggy goodness
Hi peeps,
I'm blogging over at Joanne Renaud's place, with a contest and everything! Check me out!
October 8, 2011
I wish I had something interesting to say
but I totally don't.
The most exciting thing coming up in my life is next weekend I'm undertaking a writing weekend with my good friend and critque partner, Lucy Clark. I'm so super pumped about this!
Lucy and I will be checking in to a hotel in the city and spending all weekend working on our current projects. We even have rooms right next door to each other to ensure ease-of-access when we need help getting unstuck! Lord, I am so excited. Lucy had the idea of undertaking the Writing Weekend after hearing how Joss Whedon and Tim Minear holed up one weekend to write an episode of Firefly. We figured if it's good enough for them, it's definitely good enough for us!
I'll report back on our successes after next weekend. What do you guys think? Good idea, bad? Any hints for how Lucy and I can stimulate our creativity??
September 25, 2011
September 11, 2011
Today I learned the sad news that Andy Whitfield has pass...
Today I learned the sad news that Andy Whitfield has passed away.
Andy Whitfield
As some of you may know, Andy Whitfield played the title character in the first season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Further, you may know this show, and Andy in particular, was the inspiration for Enslaved.
Andy had to step down from leading man duties after the first season due to a diagnosis of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Sadly, he has lost this battle.
Andy, thank you for inspiring me. You have affected my life tremedously and I hope you are in a safe, better place, free from any pain.
September 1, 2011
It's totally research…promise
So, research. It's a massive part of the job. Who decided writers have to sound like they know what they're talking about? That just sounds like crazy talk to me
However, even though you do all this research, you may have heard people say before 99% of what the author knows never appears on the page. Bummer! Oh well, it has to be done and some of it can be extremely interest. However, how do you go about researching?
For me, because I am lazy-no, no, it's efficient. EFFICIENT-I like to watch movies or tv shows with similar subject matter to the story I'm writing. There are so many benefits to this. One, you are absorbing the way the writers have written the show, the way the directors and producers have interpreted the writing and, above all, the dialogue. Watching people talking can only help you improve your own dialogue skills, no matter if the show be good or bad. Second, the researchers and set designers have done ALL THE WORK FOR YOU.
Currently, I'm watching Rome. I watched this show a few years ago but recently I've purchased the dvd box sets and my wordy, is it great for research! The production design unit has busted their, uh, backs to make the show look like Rome at the creation of the Empire. This is invaluable. You can read all the books in the world describing what a patrician's house looked like but a 30 second scene from Rome set within a patrician's villa makes an impression no book could every hope to. For me, visual research is great when used in conjunction with the written.
These shows spend AGES making sure they get things right, or at least that they adhere to the agreed version of history. For example, it's doubtful the regency period was like what we as readers accept is regency, but we all agree it's like that and thus it becomes truth. It's the same with any historical period. Historians, anthropologies and archeologists are constantly discovering new information, and occasionally this information contradicts all that has gone before. Therefore, history is a fluid beast and mostly, it is what we all agree to be true.
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Hmm. I think I got off topic here.
Anyway, watching tv is good for your writing. Totally. You can take that to the bank!
August 26, 2011
Cassandra around the web!
Hi all,
I'm back home after the excitement of the RWA conference and adjusting to normal life once more. RWA was quite awesome and a full report will come once I have settled down from my lovely little holiday.
Speaking of RWA, I am being interviewed for their blog! There is also a lovely little giveaway Romance Writers of Australia blog
Enjoy!
August 16, 2011
Just a quick one…
Hey all!
I'm currently in Melbourne, having attending Romance Writers of Australia's annual Conference, so this is just a quick post to let you know I've done another blog post! Check it out at Decadent Publishing's blog!
