I’m starting to get reviews in for Destiny Kills, which is very exciting.  I wasn’t entirely sure how the myth and magic series would go, simply because it isn’t Riley and it is a totally different world. But all the reviews so far have been positive, which is great. Romantic Times have given it four and a half stars, which is half a star better than any of the Riley books. I haven’t seen the actual review yet, because they don’t put it online until after the issue is out, but I’ll let you know what they say as soon as they do

In other news, Riley 8 continues to plod along. I need to get 100 pages done a month, but so far this month I’ve only done 50. Which I suppose isn’t bad considering I’ve been flitting between two houses, getting one ready to shift into and the other ready to shift out of. If I can make it to 70 or 80 pages for the month, I think I’ll be happy. Mind you, I’m not entirely sure I’m happy with the current direction of the book, but for the moment, I’m just letting it run.

In none writing news, I took the dogs out for their walk yesterday, and we come across a kangeroo.  We usually walk down into an estate called Hidden Valley, and while there’s lots of roos around the estate, they usually keep away from the walking tracks. Obviously the grass was too good along the track for this one to ignore. It was a big grey male who was as tall as I am, and it was not happy to see the dogs. Ella, being a lab, thought it would be fun to chase, and the roo initially bounded away–much to El’s delight. Then it realized it was much bigger than Ella, and stopped. Have you ever seen a roo rear back on its tail and lash out with its claws? It can be a scary sight (and they can gut you too, because their hind claws are razor sharp).  Ella was still playing deaf at this stage, more excited with the chase than coming back to me, but when the roo got sick of her running rings around him and barking, and decided to give chase, she hightailed it back to me quick smart.  And where was Finn in all this excitement? Standing next to me, barking from a safe distance. He’s not dumb, that one. 

I’m just about to take my two dogs out for their daily stroll, but I thought I’d drop by with a quick blog update before I went (mainly because I probably won’t have time when I get back from the dog stroll). In fact, the whole blogging thing could be a little hit and miss over the next couple of weeks. I took possession of my new house this week, so I’ll be up there most days, cleaning and painting and generally getting it ready to shift into. I haven’t got a phone, let alone the internet, connected as yet, so I can’t even cruise by on one of my breaks (One thing I do have up there is a kettle–I can’t survive without a cup of tea at hand! lol)

Writing news–well, there’s not a whole lot happening there. I’ve been managing a couple of pages a day, although last night I decided to drag out my laptop and sit in front of the TV to write rather than sitting in my office. I’m not sure what it is about sitting in front of the TV, but when the muse is tired and doesn’t want to write, it often seems to give it a kick. Whether it’s fact that the mind is only half concentrating, I don’t know–or really care. I’m just happy it works. I actually got my five pages done last night, which means I’ve now done 45 pages this month. Which means I’m probably not going to get close to my target of 100 pages, but considering everything that is going on at the moment, it’s not disasterous, either.

Oh, and before I go, Wendy Kohlhoff, if you’re out there, you need to answer your email and send me your postal address. If I don’t get an answer within the next week, I’ll be redrawing the prize.

Riley 8 has a title–Bound to Shadows. It’s pretty cool, don’t you think?

I’m slowly getting into the flow with this book. For the first couple of pages, the words came out as easily as wisdom teeth being pulled. Meaning it was slow and painful. But I managed 4 pages Monday and 5 pages yesterday, so I have my fingers crossed that the muse might finally have gotten into the flow of things. Of course, she really writes to write the new story (the one I mentioned a while ago about the reject soldier) so who knows.

In other news, Beneath a Rising Moon and Beneath a Darkening Moon are both now available in paperback format in the UK, Australia & New Zealand (Basically, the UK territories, I think). If you ever wanted to read the Ripple Creek series but had trouble getting them (or didn’t want to pay the high shipping costs out of the US) now is your chance

that’s right, I got my butt into gear yesterday, marched it toward the computer, sat it down, and wrote. It took a while to get the opening line right, and I’m not entirely sure that I like the overall opening sequence, but at least I have words on paper. I can worry about the rightness of them later.  While I basically know the overall plot of this one, I haven’t pinned down the  little details, and it’s always the little details that are the hardest to write, especially in the first chapter of a book. For example, the plot outline tells me the story opens with Riley being called out to a murder scene but it doesn’t give me the setting, the time, who’s involved, ectera.  So the muse, she fiddles, trying various words, going back and changing them, erasing them and trying something else…it’s a long process writing a first chapter. At least it is for me. But once I get past it, I’m hoping the words will flow better. They usually do.

Mind you, I’m not sure I’ll be writing today, because I’m off to the dentist after gym. I had a broken tooth fixed last week, and now I have to go back and have them all cleaned. And I hate having my teeth cleaned. I can stand the needles, I can stand the fillings and the sharp whine of the drill, but the thought of getting them scraped and polished always makes me shudder in horror. I guess it doesn’t help that my gums tend to bleed rather horribly during the whole process.   But at least I won’t have to go back for another 6 months once it’s done (though I tend to stretch it out to a year. lol)