The connection between horse racing and writing

There are some days you could be forgiven for thinking the only thing I think about is the story I'm writing or the one I'm going to write. There are a lot of days that's true.

Sometimes I think about different things, though. Like the Melbourne Cup. For those of you not in Australia, you might not know about the Melbourne Cup. It's a horse race. It takes less than three minutes to run and it basically stops the nation. Everyone gets dressed up, organises high tea and sweeps, some place bets, and fewer still manage to go to see the actual race live. Melbourne declares a public holiday for the day. Everyone else just turns on a radio or television at work.

It looks better with a body
in it, but you can see the colour.It's no secret I love dressing up and Melbourne Cup is no different. Lots of people at work dropped by my office in the week before just to ask what I had planned for the day. It was a surprise, that's for sure. I chose a 1952 Vogue dress (The original design was a Vogue design but I used a Butterick pattern to make it.), a fascinator and heels. The dress is red and white and screams 'pay attention to me'. I shocked a lot of people, not because the dress was so stunning but because I wore a dress. I don't do girly stuff.

The next day I was back to jeans, t-shirt and joggers, feeling much more like myself. Several people said I should wear dresses every day. !!!! That's me - speechless. Not going to happen.

This is how it fits with a body.So where does the writing come into all this? The dress really is spectacular and deserves it's own story so I've been trying to think of a plot for the person who wears it. I have Jonathan, whom we meet in Just in Time (coming out in Feb/Mar from Dreamspinner Press) who desperately needs someone to care for him. I think I'll find Jonathan a man who wears that dress the way a Vogue design should be worn - with balls.