nothing much has been happening here in Melbourne. Mainly because it’s just been too stinking hot to actually do anything. I know when I was a kid we used to have heat wave conditions like this, but that was a long time ago and we’ve all gotten used to a summer that had only one or two really sweltering days (sweltering referring to anything well over 39 c or102 f ). For the last three days we’ve had 40, 44, and 45 c (104, 111, 113) and they reckon the joy is continuing for the next few days. And even when the cool change comes,  it apparently won’t bring the rain we so desperately need. Needless to say, there’s a lot of hot, unhappy people here in Melbourne town at the moment. Especially given we have a useless state government who have not only sat on their hands when it comes to the water supply for the last 12 years, leaving us in the ridiculous situation where Melbourne is in imminent danger of actually running out of water, but they’ve done the same to the transport and the power grids. So, not only are people hot, but they can’t get home and, if they do, many have been finding they’re victims of systematic blackouts. Read, no cold drinks and spoiled food in fridges.

But enough whining. As I have nothing writing wise to add, I thought I’d share the following. My brother sent it today, and it’s not only funny, but true 

You know you’re Australian if….

You know the meaning of ‘girt’.

You believe that stubbies can either be worn or drunk.

You think it is normal to have a Prime Minister called Kevin.

You waddle when you walk due to the 53 expired petrol discount vouchers stuffed in your wallet or purse.

You’ve made a bong out of your garden hose rather than use it for something illegal such as watering the garden.

When you hear that an American ‘roots for his team’ you wonder how often and with whom.

You understand that the phrase ‘a group of women wearing black thongs’ refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds.

You pronounce Melbourne as ‘Mel-bin’.

You believe the ‘L’ in the word ‘Australia’ is optional.

You can translate: ‘Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas’.

You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns, cows and sheep.

You call your best friend ‘a total bastard’ but someone you really, truly despise is just ‘a bit of a bastard’.

You think ‘Woolloomooloo’ is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.

You believe it makes sense for a country to have a $1 coin that’s twice as big as its $2 coin.

You understand that ‘Wagga Wagga’ can be abbreviated to ‘Wagga’ but ‘Woy Woy’ can’t be called ‘Woy’.

You believe that cooked-down axle grease such as vegemite makes a good breakfast spread.

You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they become Kiwis again.

You know, whatever the tourist books say, that no one says ‘cobber’.

You know that certain words must, by law, be shouted out during any rendition of the Angels’ song ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again’.

You believe, as an article of faith, that the confectionary known as the Wagon Wheel has become smaller with every passing year.

You still don’t get why the ‘Labor’ in ‘Australian Labor Party’ is not spelt Labour.

You wear ugg boots outside the house.

You believe that the more you shorten someone’s name the more you like them.

Whatever your linguistic skills, you find yourself able to order takeaway fluently in every Asian language.

You understand that ‘excuse me’ can sound rude, while ’scuse me’ is always polite.

You know what it’s like to swallow a fly.

You understand that ‘you’ has a plural and that it’s ‘youse’.

You know it’s not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle.

Your biggest family argument over the summer concerned the rules of beach cricket.

You shake your head in horror when companies try to market what they call ‘Anzac Biscuits’.

You still think of Kylie as ‘that girl off Neighbours’.

You get choked up with emotion by the first verse of the national anthem and then have trouble remembering the second.

You find yourself ignorant of nearly all the facts deemed essential in the government’s new test for migrants.

You will immediately forward this list to other Australians, here and overseas, realising that only they will understand!!

I’ve just made my first post on The Deadline Dames, and to celebrate the site’s opening (and me finishing Bound to Shadows), I’ll be giving away two (yep TWO) ARC’s of Deadly Desire. All you have to do is wander over to the site and make a comment about the deadlines in your life that you hate, and how you cope with them. Easy really

And while you’re there, check out the contests the other Dames are running, and enter those as well

are live, and there’s lots of great prizes on offer over the next two weeks. Head on over to our site and check us out 

In other news, well, there’s not a whole lot. Summer has finally decided to hit old Melbourne town (only a month and a bit late) and it’s been meltingly hot.  Luckily for Kasey and I, our area tends to cool down nicely at night (at least so far) so we’ve been able to sleep–unlike other poor souls living in the city areas rather than the country. So, this means the brain has actually been functioning rather than being zapped by the heat, and writing has therefore been done. I wrote nearly 20 pages of the short story and I’m really liking it. But I’ve now had to stop because I need to start editing Riley 8. Which is what I’ve been doing today. I’d like to be able to get most of the edits completed before the weekend so I can ship it off to Miriam and Robyn for a read through (hopefully they’ll catch the mistakes I miss, because every author does miss something.) Then it’ll be sent to my editor and I’ll be starting the next–and last–Riley. Which is kind of sad, but exciting at the same time, because I have a lot of really cool ideas for Risa.

The most excellent news for the week is that Bound to Shadows ( Riley 8  ) is finally finished!! YAAYYYYYYYY!!!    I even had a little tear in my eye as I was writing the final scene, but of course, that could have just been relief that the darn thing was almost done. Right now, I’m taking a break from the story, letting the muse go ‘cold’ before I turn around and edit it. Then I’ve got to hand it over to crit buddies and Miriam, and see what they say about it. Hopefully they won’t find too much wrong with it, because the deadline is getting way too close.

Speaking of deadlines, the Deadline Dames site launched into cyberspace next Monday (19th Jan). We’re just putting the final touches on the website now and then we’ll be right. And there’s going to be some great giveaways over the first two weeks of our launch, so it’ll definitely be worth visiting (plus, of course, the dames have some really interesting things to gas-bag about).

In other news, as I mentioned first up, I’m taking a week away from Riley, but that doesn’t mean I’m taking a week away from writing. I started a short story yesterday, as I’ve been invited to submit a short to an Australian paranormal anthology.  The theme is ’stories that accentuate the dark, sexy feel of the urban and contemporary paranormal fiction, and empower women’. Which made me go ‘hmmmmmmm’. Because while I can do the dark and sexy thing, I’m not entirely sure about the whole ‘empower women’ bit. I mean, I write strong, kick ass women, but can that be classed as ‘empowering women’? I’m not so sure. Plus, there’s the whole worry that Australian publishers just don’t get what I write (probably a left over from being told by a major publisher years ago that while urban fantasy and paranormal romance did have its niche in Australia, it was dominated by Americans and they really couldn’t see an Australian breaking in. Hence my decision–and it was the best thing I ever did–to go overseas with my work. So I guess in the end I have to thank them    ).  Anyway, the short story isn’t connected to any of my current novels, although originally I was going to make it an offshoot of the Myth and Magic series. The short had other ideas, however. I’ve written ten pages, and have another forty to go. If I can get it done in a week that would be brilliant, but as ever, I’ll probably fail miserably at that sort of deadline. Which is what my first post at the Deadline Dames will be about. lol

Destiny Kills is one of the books featured on Barbara Vey’s Beyond Her Book blog. Head on over there if you want to check it out

I’m off back to the grindstone…two scenes to go and Bound to Shadows is done and dusted! Well, at least until I start the editing, anyway. lol

Bound to Shadows, the book I’m currently working on, has an official release date–September 2009. Or August 29th, according to Amazon.  So there’s not much of a wait between Deadly Desire and the next one, which is probably a good thing considering what I do in Deadly Desire. Let’s just say the reactions to it will be interesting. lol

I finally have the Deadly Desire ARC contest contest up on my website, so if you’re interested in getting your hands on it, tootle over to my contest page and enter. And there will be several more ARC’s on offer (as well as a ton of other fab prizes) when the Deadline Dames go live!

Speaking of Deadline Dames, fellow dame Jackie Kesslar has a new novella hitting the shelves tomorrow, so I’m pimping it for her here.   It’s Hell is where the Heart is in the all new A Red Hot Valentine’s Day Anthology from Avon Red.  Here’s the back cover blurb:  Eternal damnation has its perks–especially for a voluptuous succubus who is about to receive a very special, very hot Valentine’s Day “gift” from her demon lover… As you can probably guess, this is a stand alone prequel to Jackie’s HELL ON EARTH series, and tells how Jezebel and Daunuan met all those millennia ago. Note that it is an erotic novella, with a major emphasis on “erotic.” So, as Jackie says, it’s not intended for anyone under 18, or those who don’t like their pages to be blisteringly hot.

2008 is a year I’m totally glad to see the back of, I can tell you. It’s been a tumultuous year for me personally, and that has fallen over into my writing–and is a major reason why I’m so far behind on this current book.I’ve discovered it’s very hard to concentrate on writing when the world around you is falling apart. But fate doesn’t always take you where you expect to go, and given that has been something of a theme in the Riley books, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when my own life does a sudden u-turn. All I can say is, thank God for the strong shoulders of friends and family.

But enough of that.

2009 has rolled around, and the time for new years resolutions has come and gone. Did you make any resolutions this year? I didn’t. Oh, I have in years past, and pretty much failed at all of them, so this year I refused to set myself up for failure (had enough of that last year!). Pretty much the only things I want to achieve this year–finish books, lose more weight, get on with my life–are things that I’m already on the way to achieving (the books are contracted and have to be done regardless, the weight loss is a life style change that is ongoing, and I’ve already booked myself two holidays, so the plan to get on with my life is underway!). What about you? Whatever you resolutions might be, here’s hoping you all achieve them, and that 2009 is a great one for you