To me, lawn mowing and writing go hand in hand or to be more precise, brain and foot!

Let me try to explain.

I love mowing the lawn. I fight my darling husband to get the lawn mower first. I’m not as crazy as some of you might think (not totally crazy but I do have my days…). In fact, I think I’m a much saner person because of it.

It all started for peace and quiet really…

Now I know that sounds utterly ridiculous since the noise of the mower is so loud but originally it was the inner peace and quiet I was searching for.

I’ll say just two words…HAVING CHILDREN.

I have to admit I have always had good kids, even from birth, however there is that occasional bad day when they are going to scream or throw tantrums and there is nothing you can do to calm them down and you end up howling in frustration instead.

One of ‘those’ days was when I found the sanity of the lawn mower.

Screaming son inside vs loud mower outside…hmmmm, just the thing I needed.

I raced outside and practically reefed the mower out of my husband’s hands while swiftly swapping our son to his.

With a bemused look at our exchange he shrugged and disappeared inside.

Did you know that you cannot hear pretty much anything over the sound of a lawn mower? In fact it allowed me to relax completely. While monotonously walking behind the mower my mind first became blank then it began to wander. There was nothing specific in its wanderings but it felt like I was taking a step out of my world and in another. By the time I’d finished, I was perfectly calm and I had a story idea as a bonus.

It was easy after that to find excuses to swap baby and mower with my husband. Surely it was his time for baby/daddy bonding?

All I knew was when I was behind that machine I was transported into Allyland and I could hide in my little world, even in full view of everyone. With three children under four years, that became essential…

Now I have a ride on and mowing has become even more than just an exercise in ideas. The upgrade in machine means I now get to use the speed of the mower to create characters and scene. If I want to think out a fast paced action scene or a daredevil character, I fly around the yard, full throttle.

A gentle scene with several plotlines or a character with difficult characteristics that takes some pondering, needs the slow, delicate areas where I have to weave carefully around the dam, trees and animals.

Mowing in rain, sunshine, frost or heatwave also make their mark.

To me, mowing is another way of feeling a scene and getting to know your characters. It’s also a great way to get those ideas flowing.

They are brilliant when they work. In fact they make life easier for much of the population but when they crash…

My notebook computer is my lifeline in this writing industry. Not only does it allow me to type in all my stories, it also provides personal contact with other writers.

And a few weeks ago it died (well technically I think it just fainted)…

And had to be sent away for repairs…

For TWO WEEKS!!!

Okay, so I could deal with the no typing part. When I had an idea I just simply went back to pencil on paper which I loved because sometimes we need a break from a computer screen. Going back to basics can produce some awesome writing (hmmmm….could be a rumour but I’ve heard it has something to do with the usage of left or perhaps right side of the brain being more creative when you write by hand).

But what really drove me crazy was not being able to chat readily with my writer buddies.

People may not be aware of this but writing is a very lonely occupation. Some tend to think of it as an adventurous life, flitting around the world researching or doing book signings etc but in reality it is nothing like that for the majority of us. We sit in front of a computer or paper day after day with nobody around except our characters for company (and in case you are wondering…yes we do talk to the voices in our head!)

But with the advancement of computers comes a new wonder for us. The wonder of having personal contact with other writers instantly! No longer do we have to sit in our lonely little writing space…now we get to be part of online friendships and writing groups who support and encourage each other at the press of a key. They understand exactly what you are going through and will even procrastinate with you! (Writers have been known to clean their entire house just to put off working some days…).

And when that contact is suddenly taken away or severely limited, we feel like we are lone little writers again.

For the first week my poor computer was gone I accepted I wouldn’t be able to speak to my friends. The second week I started pining but knew it would soon be home.

But it wasn’t. It took another week to finally come back to me.

A total of THREE WEEKS!!!

When it arrived I ran outside and practically hugged the poor delivery man. I don’t think he’d ever seen anyone quite so happy to see a package.

The first thing I did?

Put it on the floor (my desk had no clear space and I sooo was not going to waste time moving things) and caught up on everything that had happened in my writing world!

Ahhhhhh I’m not alone after all…

My kids almost never have accidents. I say almost because there was that one time a few years ago my daughter ended up with a split chin which needed gluing, but that is about the extent of our blood/stitches dramas. This of course makes me extremely happy because I don’t deal with blood and gashes on my babies well (my babies are 11, 9 and 7).

However…and there is a big however, this last week I have had to rush them off to the hospital not once but TWICE! Didn’t make it the whole way to the hospital the second time but I’ll explain that one a bit later on…

The first incident occurred last Saturday. My daughter (the nine year old), managed to split her knee while playing around the pool. There were screams and she was on her back on the pavers. The other kids were shouting ‘knee’. I looked down and saw a two inch gash on her leg.

I almost passed out…

In the last few years my wonderful ability to handle blood or serious cuts on my kids has gone out the window. I can still deal with it on other people but for some reason not my kids…wonder why???

What made it even worse was the sudden flashback I had to my childhood.

And boy was it a horror flashback…

I was about nine when my youngest brother had a similar accident but his was much worse. Three gashes on knee and ankle that went to the bone. I’m not sure how many of you have witnessed something like that (and I don’t want to scare the more squeamish reader you so feel free not to read the next sentence or two) but you automatically know stitches are required because the split flesh turns white and curls backwards from the cut like pieces of scored squid flesh. And at first there is no blood (another wonder why moment) then after a time delay, the blood starts to flow.

My brother didn’t even know it had happened until I took one look and started screaming. That moment will stay with me forever but my daughter’s accident resurrected the horror.

Anyway, back to the story…

So my daughter was sobbing, and blood was now flowing down her leg. Not wanting to frighten the beejeepers out of my kids by keeling over, I held myself together long enough to get a clean towel, apply pressure and ring my darling husband to get home asap. Ten minutes later, he had her in the car and off to hospital.

It was then I started to pace. And when I pace I think. And when I think, my brain often twists whatever I’ve seen, heard or done into a story or at least the ideas of a story.

The thoughts that day turned into the bones of a suspense/horror novel. I had two hours to mull them over and in that time I’d come up with a half decent character and I knew a bit about her.

The story only took a back step in my head once my sore and sorry daughter arrived home After all, sympathy and love were needed to make everything better.

The book remained hidden in a corner of my brain for three days…then it resurfaced on Tuesday evening with a bang or should I say screams???

A mother should not have to see so much blood coming out of her kids, especially with only a few days between them…it takes me a while to recover and that was definitely not a sufficient length of time…

The screams belonged to my seven year old son. The sound of his agony trailed behind him as he ran down the hallway to me. Also trailing behind him was blood. LOTS OF BLOOD…big red drops…hmmm, actually it was more like big red lakes of blood.

It took me a second to work out where it was all coming from because it was all down both arms and hands.

Turns out it was his fingers. It wasn’t a pretty sight…

Think blades of a pedestal fan and fingers connecting. Apparently there was no cover on the fan. Don’t ask me why or how because I’d put it back on just the evening before. One of the boys for some reason kept taking it off.

Anyway, as per the time before, I almost passed out, clean towel, pressure, phone call to darling husband at tennis.

As tennis was on the way to the hospital, I threw the kids in the car and raced off.

We didn’t make it to the hospital though. Once I arrived at tennis my husband took a look at it. He assured me it wasn’t nice but stitches would not be required. At these words I almost cried. I’d seen enough blood to last me forever.

Blood and gashes were in my thoughts for the rest of the evening. I kept reliving the sight of both cuts. They would flash into my mind and I would tightly close my eyes to try to get rid of the sight but they wouldn’t go. When I finally went to bed I had nightmares about them. Let me tell you it wasn’t a pleasant night.

But there was an upside to all this. Yes, really!

By the next morning, the novel that had been brewing in my brain burst forth. It was formed complete with characters, plot and dare I say it? BLOOD…

I haven’t put words to paper yet. I like to play with it in my head for a while first and then when the book appears in my mind like a movie, I know I’m ready to let it out.

People always ask how I get ideas for my stories…well now you know!!!

My brain seems to work in a different way than most people. YES REALLY. Hehehe I’m sure you haven’t guessed that yet!

As well as being exceptionally happy all the time (I have been told that I am tooooooo cheery), thoughts are always zapping around my head…and I do mean ZAP! My brain never rests. It is always jumping from one thought to the next in speedy succession. While they are leaping, they twist and turn too!!!

I will often stop in the middle of a conversation and say ‘Oh that reminds me I need to do xyz’ before getting back on track again. Although my darling husband and kids (oh let’s not limit it to just them. Add my entire family and friends too) have always been well aware of this particular trait of mine, sometimes they will stare at me for a second then shake their heads and ask me how I got from the topic at hand to a thought so not related to the conversation.

Here is an example:

Me: ‘The cows in the yard next door were mooing really loudly this morning. I wonder what…Oh, remind me I need to research about that motorbike for the book later…so anyway, I wonder what all the commotion was about.’

Husband (silent for a second. I can see him try to link it together before he sighs): ‘Okay, I give up. I tried to find any path possible but I cannot work out how you got from cows to motorbikes.’

Me (biting lip and thinking backward then forward between motorbikes to cow topic): Ummmm…well when I mentioned mooing cows, I thought about Norman the cow out of City Slickers movie, then about rain coats (rain slickers), then about the bright neon vests road workers wear, then about vehicles on the road and finally I arrived at motorbikes.’

At the end I look up and give him a massive smile. I’m usually very pleased I have worked out the inner workings of my thoughts.

He takes a deep breath (sometimes when my twisting thought process has gone through over ten different links he also closes his eyes as if he is praying for guidance as to how to handle the conversation) and laughs at me. ‘You never fail to surprise me with your creativity and imagination,’ he says.

And I think that sums it all up really…I write the way I do because of the way my brain works. I might come up with a topic but once my head gets hold of it and twists it this way and that, knots it four times then turns it around another time just for good measure, it ends up way more creative than I could have ever started with.

So readers, be warned. You are entering my twisted world of words…feel free to come along on the journey!

This whole blogworld is going to be a very big learning curve for me. You see, I have an iddy biddy secret…I’m a tad technologically challenged.

THERE…I’ve said it! Do I feel better? NOT REALLY. Whoever said confessions were good for the soul may not have meant for a person to do it quite so publicly, but there is no turning back now.

This confession will be a huge shock to my friends and family. (Wince) Okay, maybe not. They’re all laughing so hysterically right now they’re almost peeing their pants…I’ve had a few ‘issues’ with computers in the past. There was that one time I…

It’s so horrible I really shouldn’t tell. I don’t think you need to know just how hopeless I am on our first meeting. Perhaps it’s better if I save it for another day.

So stick with me, hold my hand and think about me in my next few days of technological pain while I try to work out this whole blog thing. I’ll need all the sympathy you can spare. I’m pretty sure it will be pure torture. I expect to pull out lots of my own hair and I know my poor computer is going to gain a complex after I scream a few (hundred) four letter words at it. However I am going to be strong and not give in until it is mastered!!!