and lots of people have already read it–and loved it–if the emails I’m getting are any indication. Can’t be sad about that Unfortunately, the next book–Deadly Desire–won’t be out until early next year (I haven’t got an official release date yet) so patience will be needed! But many of the questions you’ve been asking me in those emails will actually be answered in the next book.

Kimberly Swan, from Darque Reviews has added a review for Kiss, and I thought I’d share: Ms. Arthur pens a fabulous mystery filled with vampires and shapeshifters whose unique qualities add to the overall suspense. The danger throughout the story plays a big role in the building tension and the heroine’s passion for catching the killers bring each case to a searing climax.  To read the whole review, just click the link and head over to their site.

In other writing news, the Hotter than Hell anthology (out in June) just received a great review from the Romantic Times magazine. Jill M Smith from RT says: With this incredibly talented line-up, readers are in for a wild and varied ride! The 12 stories run the gamut from supernaturally sexy to sad and disturbing, with no shortage of intriguing characters and creative plots. The real challenge facing these authors is delivering a uniquely satisfying tale in such a short space. For the most part, they succeed amazingly well.  Pretty cool, huh?

I’ve just finished some more (minor) editorial questions for Destiny, and the book is now in the production stage. I really can’t wait to see what you all think of this one, because I really do love Destiny’s story (even if I did hate the thing when I was doing the umpteenth revision on it. lol.) Mercy Burns, the sequel (not with the same characters) is proceeding along nicely, and I’ve finally rolled over 100 pages done. Only just, mind you, but every page counts. The hero in Mercy is proving a little more difficult to pin down, and I’ve deleted I don’t know how many pages simply because he keeps acting all happy and hot, and he’s supposed to be all dark and hot.  I still haven’t pinned down the entire plot on this one yet, either, but I’m hoping that’ll happen once I get a little more into the story.

Mercy Burns progress meter:

after the long trip back to Australia (which seemed to take even longer than the trip over to Pittsburgh, but in reality, was actually shorter) I arrived home with much swollen feet and the joy of having to do edits for Destiny ASAP. Although thankfully, they weren’t proper edits, but rather first-pass proofs. This is where we writers have to read through the manuscript carefully and find any little errors that may have crept in while the novel was being set up ready for printing. Normally this doesn’t take me very long, but the combination of sore feet and lack of sleep made the brain unwilling to concentrate for any long periods of time. But it did get done (on time, too), the feet have finally gone down, and I’ve actually managed to catch up on the sleep I didn’t get on the plane, so all is good again

RT is always such fun. Granted there are the occasional cringe worthy moments (usually involving the Ellora’s Cave men and some very bad miming/acting) but overall, it’s simply one big party that also has some brilliant workshops and panels for those who want something more serious. Next year it’s in Orlando, and I’ll definitely be booking my ticket again.

When I was at RT, I also picked up a couple of signed books, and I’ll be giving these away on my blog over the next couple of weeks. First up this week is Jenna Black’s The Devil Inside.

I’ve read it, and I loved it, and it’s a pleasure to be able to give a signed copy away. To win, simply send me an email (kez @ keriarthur . com –without the spaces) with Jenna Black Giveaway in the subject line. The contest will run for one week and be drawn randomly next Sunday (4th May). Good luck!

If you happen to be wandering around Pittsburgh and see this short round woman with glowing red eyes speaking in a strange accent, don’t be afraid. It’s probably me. As per usual during these type of conferences, sleep and me have parted company, which is never a good thing when you’re supposed to act and talk like an intelligent being. I mean, it’s hard for me to achieve that at any time, but when I haven’t had sleep…although I do write dark urban fantasy novels that often feature moody vampires, so hopefully people will think I’m just getting into the part. And hey, there is one upside of not sleeping–at least I get the gym to myself at five in the morning

No sleep aside, I’m having a fabbo time here at RT. The 3 day tour was excellent (even though I was good diet wise on the nosh tour day, and merely nibbled at the mountain of food they kept shovelling our way.) I did spend, though (me and a credit card are dangerous companions when there are shops around.    ) Pittsburgh is so not what I expected it to be, though. We went to places like the Frick mansion, Falling Water, Pittsburgh Uni (which doesn’t sound exciting, but the buildings were amazing), checked out the haunted houses, and of course, shopped. I have lots of great photos that I’ll put up once I’m home.

Today was the first official conference day, and we all got our goodie bags and mountain of free books (I only got a small mountain–6 books in all, mainly because I had to try and get them home–but most people really did walk out with arm loads. It’s a book lovers paradise at RT). I sat in on a couple of paranormal panels, listening to the likes of Kim Harrison, L A Banks, Angela Knight, & J C Ward chatting about the genre (I missed Kelley Armstrong’s–I believe I was chatting at the time. Or trying to), and they were fun. Tonight was the Ellora’s Cave Fantasy ball, which featured lots of ladies dressed up in all sorts of costumes–and of course, lots of half naked Ellora’s models wandering around. I’m definitely getting old, because I had to leave early. Not only was it too noisy to talk, but the eye candy mostly seemed way, way too young.

Tomorrow I have lunch and dinner to attend (it’s really tough being a writer sometimes. lol), so I’m not sure what panels or workshops I’m going to get to. But tomorrow night there’s another fancy dress ball, and I’ll try to remember to take some photos there for you all to see. In the meantime, take care everyone, and I’ll chat to you in a couple of days!

Hey, I made it! After 30 hours of travelling, I’m finally here in Pittsburgh. There were times when I thought I was never going to get here, what with the constant spate of plane delays (at least the plane took off on time from Melbourne. We got it right, but no one else did!). And don’t get me started about Chicargo airport…although I do have to ask, do any planes ever take off from that place on time? Seems to me the answer would be a big fat no.

Anyways, enough grumbling. I’m here, it’s cold, and I only bought a couple of jumpers (sweater for my US readers) with me. Luckily, I did pack a coat, because I am going to need it. I’m currently blogging from the business center of the Pittsburgh Hilton, and I have to tell you, it’s weird. Every two minutes the lights go off, and I have to lean back in the chair and wave my arms so the sensors know I’m still there. Which would be quite a sight (hmmm…maybe I’d better check for hidden cameras).

In writing news, there’s not a whole lot to tell. I wrote a bit on the planes, but every single one of them was packed and elbow room at a premium in sardine class (more commonly known as economy). I did get an email from Josh, my editor’s assistant telling me that the edits for Destiny were ready and asking if they could they send them to me at the hotel. Yeah, I paid over 3 grand to come all the way over here just so I could sit in my hotel room and do edits…NOT.  I’ll have to see how bad they are when they get here, because I haven’t packed my laptop this trip and I haven’t got any files with me. Could be that I can’t do anything useful anyway. (she’s says with fingers crossed. Yeah, it’s bad of me, but I don’t want to work when I’m here!)

Anyways, the first RT function is tonight–it’s a get together of all those who signed on for the early bird tour. The first official RT conference function is Wednesday, so I’ll probably file another report then.  

to the Romantic Times conference today, so don’t expect a blog for a couple of days, because I’ll be either be stuck on a plane or stuck at the airport waiting for a plane. None of which will be fun, especially considering I’ll be travelling for well over 24 hours and I don’t sleep in planes. So if you’re at RT and see a baggy eyed chubby woman looking dazed and speaking in a strange accent, that’s probably going to be me.

I’m hoping to blog about events while I’m over there, but it could be random given the hotel’s apparently undergoing renovations (I have to ask–what is it about RT picking hotels undergoing renovations? It happened last year, too, and it was a right royal pain). I have no idea whether the business centre will be fully functional, but fingers crossed.

In other news, I have more covers to show off. These are for Beneath a Rising Moon and Beneath a Darkening Moon, which Piatkus are releasing in the UK and Commonwealth countries (including Australia) in September. Fab, aren’t they?

I’m guest blogger over on Magical Musings today, so if you’d like to read about the secret to getting published, head on over there and check it out.

In other writing news….well, there’s not a whole lot. I’ve been busy doing the final edit on Riley 7, getting it ready to send to Anne, my editor. The wonderful Miriam (my agent) has done a read through of it, and found no major mistakes, so that’s always a bonus. She also said the emotional punch at the end almost floored her, which is brilliant, because that’s exactly what I was hoping for. It’s always good when writing turns out the way its supposed to

Other than that, I’ve been busy getting things ready for my trip to the Romantic Times conference. Trying to figure out what to bring to wear, as well as trying to fit all the promotional stuff into my case, is always a hassle. Especially with the tight weight policies the airlines have these days. (You know, I’m ten kilos lighter than I was at this time last year–you’d think they’d let me bring that extra in goodies! But no…. )

one lot to go. (well, at least until my editor gets her hands on it, anyway!) I’ve added all those little bits and pieces to Riley 7 that I had to add, and fixed up all the grammar and spelling errors I could find. Now I just have to print the thing out and do a read through–this usually finds a lot of the stuff I missed in the first read through. When that’s done, I can send the book to my editor and get back to writing the next book due. Which is Mercy Burns, the follow-up to Destiny Kills. I have a head start on this one, as I’ve already done 90 pages of it. Yesterday I actually sat down and attempted plotting the thing, but I couldn’t really get into it. I think I’ll need to write a bit more, get to know the characters again, before any attempt at plotting will be successful. Of course, the muse also wants to write the ‘reward’ book and is throwing lots of ideas my way, so I might have to write both for a while, just to prevent muse mutiny.