and I definitely haven’t been blogging as much as I should. But I have a good excuse–I’ve been writing.

Risa continues to roll along nicely, and I’m in the end section now, which means I’m having to tie up the many loose ends and try to get some sort of resolution happening. Not that everything will be neat, because this is a series after all and there’s more books to come. The trouble is, this book does have quite a number of threads running through it, and right now I’m struggling to hold them all. The lack of brain power happening of late isn’t helping, either. lol

anyway, here’s the official update:

Story–Dark Angels
New pages – 3 (tonight)
Time spent writing – 2 hours
Current page count – 335
Intriguing things – Aedh are really–really–nasty little souls.
Annoyances – My wrist. My tendonitis has decided to start playing up again. Have no idea why.
Music – Eco Zen 2
Taking care of Keri – On new diet, continuing to exercise
Muse food – watched Phar Lap–an oldie but a goodie. Then decided I needed to buy The Black Stallion and Sea Biscuit, two more brilliant horse movies that aren’t in my collection.

Oh, and don’t forget that while week 1 of the Dames birthday bash is over, there’s still several more days and prizes to go. Head on over there to check it out

It’s my day over at DeadlineDames, and as part of the celebrations, I’ve posted a snippet from the first chapter of Moon Sworn, the 9th–and last–Riley Jenson book. So if you’d like to read it, or go in the draw to win one of the prizes, then head on over there and make a comment!

and we’re having a party!

Yes, the Deadline Dames are officially 1 year old this week, and to celebrate, we’re having 9 days of giveaways and sneak peaks. Why 9? Because there’s 9 dames, of course!

Anyways, Dame Jackie and Dame Devon have already posted their sneak peaks (or in Jackie’s case, a deleted scene), and each has offered some fab prizes (for readers and writers). Head on over there for your chance to win!

I was hoping to get 10 pages done over the weekend and hit the 300 page mark, but I decided I needed to go see Avatar again. So I did. Third time, and I think I noticed more things this time than the others. Still love it just as much. In fact, I think I’ll probably go again before the IMAX 3d run ends Then on Sunday, i choofed off to Chadstone to buy some shoes (because a girl can never have enough…and because Camper had a sale on, and I’m practically living in my current campers). Then I met Mel for lunch, and we went to see Up In The Air with the delish George Clooney. Great movie, but kinda sad at the end.

So, the aim today is to roll over the 300 page mark and then, maybe by next weekend, hit the 320. I had been hoping to finish this by the end of Jan, and although I may go close, I doubt it’ll actually get there. Still, I’m ahead of schedule, so that’s good.

In other news, Paranormal-Romance Junkies is running a reader’s favourite series pole over on their website, so if you’d like to vote, wander on over there. Yes, Riley’s there, but don’t feel obliged to vote for me (hey, Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Rachel Vincent, Richelle Mead and lots of other great authors are there )

Discovered the German and French covers for Full Moon Rising today, so I thought I’d share

The German cover for Full Moon Riley. An online translater says the title is The Lunar Hunter. Release date is 1 May 2010

The German cover for Kissing Sin. Translater says the title is Guard the Moon. Release date is Jan 11 2010

And the French cover for Full Moon Rising. Translator says the title is Full Moon. Release date was Dec 4 09

Fellow Deadline Dame Jackie Kessler’s Tales of the Vampires: Carpe Noctem comic book is coming out soon with Dark Horse, and you can now check out the 8-page teaser. Just click this link to read the article–the link for the tease is at the bottom.

In other writing news, I never did remember what I was intending to write after that scene I mentioned last post, but I rolled on anyway, and it’s worked out pretty good. I have to say, I’m loving this story so far

Oh, and there just might be a teaser up on the dame website soon, so keep an eye out for that one

and I really haven’t got much to update you about! lol.

I’ve finished the line edits for Moon Sworn (Riley 9) and sent those back, and I’ve also finished the first round of edits on Mercy Burns and sent those back, I’m fully expecting Mercy to come back with more editing required, but until it does, I’m concentrating on Risa. Which, by the way, rocks. But I’ve struck a major problem. When I stopped writing Risa to do the two lots of editing, I basically stopped mid-thought. So, I have the following paragraphs…

I frowned, splashed some more water over my face and neck, then turned off the tap and sat down on the edge of the path. “Where you able to get a sense of the soul stealer’s creator before you destroyed it?”

“Unfortunately, no. I thought it more important this time to rescue you.”

This time. Meaning in the future, that decision might not be so clear cut. Irritation flared brighter, but I wasn’t entirely sure why. I really didn’t expect anything else from a reaper.

“Well, I sensed her–she’s evil, through and through. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get much more than that.”

“But you would know her if you saw her?”

I nodded and rubbed my arms. The stain of her still lingered in the dark recesses of my mind.

“Good,” he said. “That is at least a starting point.”

“We have more than that,” I said, and carefully stood up. My stomach behaved itself, but it felt like there were a hundred tiny drummers going mad inside my head. “We need to talk to Stane.”

…and do you think I can remember what she had to talk to Stane about? Nope. Not a clue. Nor did I write it down. Bum and double bum!! If I could eat chocolate I would (because chocolate makes any situation better) but right now I’m on a cleansing diet and anything decent and basically nice is out. lol. So I’m going to have to think. Maybe knocking my head against the wall a few times will jog the memory cells. lol

wish me luck!

Okay, I know I’m late, but the sentiment is never-the-less heartfelt. I’m just hoping it’s not a sign of things to come (me being late for everything, that is. lol)

Seeing the new year has rolled around (and I nothing new to say, since I haven’t actually done a whole lot that is interesting yet), I thought I’d do a random list of good things and bad things of 2009. So, without further fuss, here it is:

Best thing that happened to me in 2009: Kasey wasn’t hurt in the several accidents she had.

Best writing related thing that happened to me: Both Deadly Desire and Bound to Shadows hit 6 on the NY Times bestseller list. You have no idea how much I danced those days. Thank you all for making it possible.

Best general writing thing that happened: There’s two–several lulus got requests, and Charlaine Harris proved that urban fantasy really does rule at the moment!

Best movie of 2009: Star Trek. Many may not agree but the mere fact that I’ve watched it over 15 times says something about my love. I think it’s the best reboot I’ve ever seen and I can’t wait for the next one. (and I’m not blind to the problems the movie had–I just don’t care!)

Best movie of 2009 runner up: Without a doubt, Avatar. Yeah, the storyline might be a tad predictable, but who really gives a damn? The imagery was beautiful and it made you believe (and having close-ups of Sam Worthington didn’t hurt, either   )

Most overrated movie of 2009–Terminator Salvation. Christian Bale as the charismatic John Connor? Who in their right mind thought that was a good idea?

The stealer award: This has to go to Sam Worthington for stealing Salvation from under Bale’s nose. He, Moon Bloodgood and Anton Yelchin were the best things about that movie.

Best book read of 2009: Sadly, I didn’t really read much last year. I get onto something of a historical kick in the latter half of the year and have read–and really enjoyed–most of Julia Quinn’s novels. I also enjoyed Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels. Urban Fantasy wise, I again didn’t read much, but I loved Iiona Andrew’s Magic Strikes.

Low point of 2009: The divorce coming though. He was a liar and a cheat, but it’s still hard to walk away from 30 years of your life. Especially when you’re all but walking away from people you’ve come to see as your second family.

Hopes for 2010:

All the lulus get contracts.

All the Dames get contracts and/or hit the bestseller lists (let Dame domination begin!)

The book in the back of my brain actually makes it onto the computer screen.

Another contract would always be good (need to pay off the house. lol)

Oh, and world peace. (yes, I watch too many Sandra Bullock movies   )