It probably didn’t even rate a mention in overseas news, but last week here in Australia (on the 25th), a small tremor hit the town of Beaconsfield, near Launceston in Tasmania, causing a rock fall down in the Beaconsfield Gold Mine shaft. Most got out, but three men were trapped nearly a kilometre underground. A rescue plan swung into action, but after several days of digging, the body of one of the men was found. And though everyone was hoping for a miracle, just about everyone had admitted there was little hope for the other two men.
Well, last night, five days after the tremor and rockfall, the two remaining men were found alive. They had no food, and had been licking the water running down the rocks to survive, but they’re alive. And asking about the footy results (you’ve got to be an aussie to understand the humor in that!) Amazing stuff. Of course, they’re not out of the woods yet. The mine operators reckon it could take up to another 48 hours to to dig a hole big enough to get the men out, but they’re being passed water and food, and seem to be in good spirits.
It just goes to show that miracles do happen and that you should never give up hope, no matter what. And I’m so glad for everyone involved that a miracle is happening here. I just wish lady luck had stretched her fingers that little bit more to encompass the third man…
In writing news, I got another fantastic review for Full Moon Rising–this time from All About Romance. And they gave me ‘desert island keeper’ status!  Amazing stuff. If you’d like to check out the full review, click here.
Got the edits in for Tempting Evil–the third Riley book–on Friday, so I’ve been busy doing that. Just gotta do a final read through today, and I should be able to get back to writing Destiny. Hopefully tomorrow.
some days it feels like that–that I do absolutely nothing else but sit at my computer and write. And, in many ways, it is all I do. Not that I’m really complaining, mind. I’ve wanted to be able to support myself with my writing for as long I’ve been writing seriously (writing with the aim of getting published rather than for my own pleasure), so actually being in that position now is amazing. And when it comes to work, I’ll take sitting in front of my computer over working in a hot and sweaty kitchen for eight or ten hours a day (or night) anytime.
It’s just that some weeks it seems that I never see anyone but my family (I love my family, but occassionally, it’d be nice to talk to someone different  ) Which probably explains why I’ve turned into something of a shopaholic. It’s not that I buy something every time I go out, it just nice to get out, be with other people, see things other than my computer screen. And I have noticed that my muse tends to work better after a shopping bout–getting out and about, flexing her spending muscles, obviously revives her
I didn’t go shopping yesterday, but I did take the dogs for our usual walk, and it was such a gloriously sunny day that it put us all in a good mood. The muse decided to buckle down a little after that, and I ended up getting nine pages done. And I’m halfway through the first love scene (finally!). But while we were out sunning ourselves, I actually caught an idea for the final scene. I know this might sound strange, but ideas generally come in ‘whole scenes’ to me. Sorta like a five minute preview of a movie. Usually it happens in the middle of the goddamn night, meaning I have to get up and write it down, because I know I won’t remember it in the morning. Luckily, that wasn’t the case here, and I was like, yes, that’s it! (thankfully, there wasn’t anyone else in the park, or I would have been catching some strange looks, I’m sure.) Anyways, this ending provides an excellent lead-in for the next book–actually gives me another logical reason for a next book–and I’m now a happy, happy camper. I’m not sure why, but I always feel better once I have an idea for the book’s ending. It makes the story feel like it has the legs to become a whole book.
As I mentioned over on my website, there’s a new release date for Kissing Sin–it’s now coming out in Feb 07, not Oct 06 as I’d thought. Sorry for sending out the wrong information, everyone!
Nothing much else has been happening–I’ve been totally slack for the last few days, and have really only opened up Destiny Kills once. I did a read through, then added one whole page. Not exactly an effort worth celebrating. I’m going to try to get my five pages done today, but the muse is still off with the fairies at the moment, so anything could happen.
Just about finished reading Lilith Saintcrow’s Working for the Devil, and I’m totally enjoying these characters (love the demon!). If you’re looking for a kick-ass heroine who’s not afraid to swing a sword, check this novel out. It’s a good one. Next on my read list is Kitty and the Midnight Hour–but given how slow I read, this will probably be the one I take to read on the plane when I choof off to RT. Which, incrediably, is only a few weeks away now. Can’t wait!
got a letter from Bantam yesterday, and with it came a photocopy of the Locus Monthly bestseller list for March. And there, highlighted in yellow and sitting in number nine spot in the hardcover list, was Full Moon Rising. How excited do you think I was? I mean, that’s the second time I’ve actually made a top-ten list (the other being Rosemary’s Romance books bestseller list for Feb/March, and that was pretty darn exciting. This is even more so!) Needless to say, much grinning and not much writing was done (sad to say, it doesn’t take much to distract my muse these days.) I did write–3 pages, which is better than nothing. The lack of writing has rolled into today–so far, I’ve only written a couple of pages. But there’s nothing much on TV except the football tonight, so I’m hoping to at least hit my five page target (and maybe even catch up on the two I owe from yesterday  ) As ever, I’ll let you know what happens.
despite having a muse that still wanted to fluff about, yesterday actually ended up being a pretty good writing day. I did a couple of pages in the morning, then started writing again mid-afternoon, determined to at least get my five pages done for the day. But the muse was on something of a roll (finally!) and I ended up doing nine pages in all. Which I’m pretty darn happy with. Of course, a good action scene always helps kick-start my muse, and Destiny was having a pretty good fight with one of her would-be captors. (and no, the hero does not come in to save the day–our heroine is more than capable of taking care of herself. When she wants to ) And she’s just remembered a whole bunch of stuff about her dad and the past, and what is going on, so that was all good too. Now I just have to get her from Florence to Michigan in one piece. And then decide what to do about her mum.
I’m currently sitting on 162 pages completed, so I’m edging ever-closer to my aim of having 200 pages completed by the time I go to RT. Of course, if I stuck to my 5 pages a day aim, I’d actually reach that goal (and then some) with ease, but the muse has a wandering soul of late, and given it can’t seem to concentrate on any one thing for long, anything could happen. If she does go off writing Destiny’s story, I’ll switch back to writing the fifth Riley. The Lulus critted it for me over the weekend, and made a few suggestions, but overall, they liked the slower start. Which is a relief–and means I can get on with writing the rest of it without worrying over the start.
had one of those days, yesterday. You know, where everything else seems more enticing to the soul than actually sitting down in front of a computer screen and doing some work. I had to head off the the quacks yesterday morning for a check up, but driving back, the sun was streaming in through the car window and the day was so warm that I just didn’t want to stop. So, I went for a bit of a drive through the hills and farms, enjoying the scenery and generally just relaxing. Ended up doing over 80 kilometers in all, so it was quite a drive. And then I get home and eat an easter egg for lunch, and the dogs are bouncing off the walls because they hadn’t gone for their usual morning walk, so I gave in and off we went. And the sun was still shining (t-shirt weather in the middle of April? In Melbourne? Who’d have guessed ) so we went for an extra long walk (needed to work off that egg somehow!) Our usual walk path is about 7 kilometers (well, 7.2 if we’re precise), but yesterday we did about ten. Even the energiser puppy was tired (for all of two seconds). But I did eventally do some writing. Three pages, not a whole lot, but better than nothing. Destiny and Trae are sharing another kiss, but I’m about to shatter all that lovely lip-locking with a little bit of nastiness. They’re going to escape Destiny’s pursuers by the skin of their teeth. The muse is rubbing her hands at the thought–she just loves throwing crap at my characters
the original title for this blog was stuff (because it’s basically a ramble about whatever comes to mind), but considering the amount of hot cross buns and easter eggs I’ve consumed over the weekend, stuffed is probably more apt. I don’t know what it is about easter buns, but not even raisin bread can compare with the taste. I love them, especially when smothered in melted butter–the thicker the better!
The diet, as you may have gathered, has gone out the window…and I still have a ton of easter chocolate to consume. I’d actually love to throw it out, but the chocoholic in me just can’t waste good chocolate like that. (yep, I’m weak). I guess it means the dogs are going to be taken for a longer walk for the next few days!
Writing wise, well, there hasn’t been a whole lot of that happening. I did another read through of the 150 pages of Destiny Kills written so far, and I’m still liking what’s there, so that’s a good start. I’m still not entirely sure whether this is going to be a two part story or a three part, because despite the fact that I’m 150 pages in, I don’t know where the end of this will be. I know what Destiny has to achieve, but can she achieve it in this book? At this particular moment in time, that’s the million dollar question. I actually don’t want to write more than two books–I don’t really want this to be a series, though I wouldn’t mind eventually writing more books in this world. But I’ve also got another book idea brewing in the back of my mind–something that’s little more than a first sentence at the moment–and will undoubtedly want to write that once it’s fermented. And really, one continuing series is more than enough. For me, anyway. I like visiting other places and other characters, and I think getting stuck writing in one or two worlds only would be detrimental to those worlds.
Anyway, we have a lulu meeting on today, and I’m taking the first chapter of the 5th Riley. The start of this one is a whole lot slower than the previous four, and I just want to be sure it still hooks the reader enough. Slow starting books always worry me–which is why my first chapters tend to be action laden. It’ll be interesting to see what the gals think of it–hopefully, I won’t have to prod them awake as they snore their way through the chapter….
Hope everyone has a safe easter, filled with family, friends and good times…and most importantly, fine chocolate!
got an email from myself today. Apparently, I’m now selling the sex drug, Cialis. God, it’s annoying enough getting those damn emails that sell everything from sex drugs to porn sites to penis enlargements, but when the bastards start using peoples real emails to mask their own, it’s even worse. I wish there was something we could do to stop these idiots! But we can’t, so in the meantime, if you happen to get a wierd email from my kez@keriarthur address selling sex drugs or the like, please remember it’s not from me. And if anyone knows how to stop the idiots from using my email to mask their own, I’d appreciate the info.
Amazon–most authors won’t admit to checking their amazon rankings or reading the reviews there, but most of us do it. For many, it’s the only way we have of telling if the book is actually selling (royalty statements only come around twice a year, so sometimes there’s a huge wait before you know.) So, we check Amazon, and get all excited when the numbers zoom down for a day or so, because it means we’ve sold a book (yep, one book sale can dramatically effect amazon’s rankings.) I also like reading the reviews, whether they’re good or bad. Nice reviews are always a good ego boost (and who doesn’t like a pat on the back occassionally?), but it’s also interesting to discover what people didn’t like about the books. As I’ve said in past blogs, I realise not everyone is going to like what I write, and I have no problems with reviews that are less than complimentary. Hell, in the cheffing trade, if people only throw insults, then it’s been a damn good day. But one of the recent reviews on amazon did surprise me enough that I’d thought I’d comment on it. And no, I’m not dissing the reviewer or the review. I think knowing what people don’t like is just as important as knowing what they do. Writers have a duty-of-care to their readers, and part of that duty involves acknowledging concerns. Anyway, this particular review compared FMR to my very first book, Dancing with the Devil. The reviewer said that, sex aside, the FMR plot was basically the same as Dancing with the Devil, and that she could see it ending exactly the same, despite the different hoops the characters were going through. It was a comment that totally surprised me, because I can’t see any similarities. But then, I guess my vision is colored by the fact that I’ve now written four books in this series, and I’m onto my fifth. To me, the Nikki and Michael series was a paranormal romance series while FMR and its sequels are dark urban fantasy–and the expected conventions of one does not flow over into the other. And those romance conventions certainly aren’t followed in FMR. It’s a good example of readers seeing something the writer doesn’t–and it’s also a gentle prod for me as a writer to remember those past books and ensure that future ones are totally different. And, more importantly, that they take readers along different paths and to totally unexpected places. I believe the FMR series does–but I guess those who read the future books will be the judge of that.
Anyway, while I’m on the subject of amazon, I just thought I’d say thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to write a review for either amazon or someplace else. Whether your review was good or bad, your time and comments are still appreciated by this writer.
Writing news–well, after another day battling a muse that wanted to fluff about, I ended up getting another five pages done. I’m currently sitting at 146 pages completed, and ideally, I’d love to hit the 200 mark by the time I head over to RT in May. It’s a totally achievable goal if my muse stops its fluffing and starts getting serious. Story wise, the characters are still flirting with the idea of having their first love scene. They’re randy little buggers, these two, so who knows what will happen next. I know how I want the scene to end, but it appears the characters have other ideas. Ah, the joys of being a seat-of-the-pants writer!
there’s a pic of me over on the Rosemary’s Romance Books website (in the 2006 photos section). Rosemary hosted my first ever book signing in March this year, and this pic was taken on the day. The short round one wearing jeans, a brown top and absolutely no make-up is me
Writing news….well, there’s not a lot. Spent a lot of yesterday fluffing around, generally doing all I could to avoid writing. The muse gets like that, sometimes–especially when she’s dithering on where to take a scene. But I eventually got stern with myself, and come mid-afternoon, forced myself to sit down and write. I ended up doing four pages, and probably would have done more if I hadn’t actually left it so late to get started. The scene didn’t eventuate in a love scene, but Destiny and Trae (heroine and hero of the loch ness book) did have their first kiss, so that was all cool. I’m just about to throw more shite their way, though, so the muse is raring to go again. Hopefully, I’ll get a few more pages done today
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