Well, Risa 2 has been handed in, so that means I’ve officially finished the last book on my contract (ahead of time, too. Yay!) The Beneath a Rising Moon edits have also been finished, although I’m expecting the Beneath a Darkening Moon edits to land in my inbox sometime in the next week or so, so the editing run isn’t finished yet. It now looks likely that Darkness Unbound and Risa 2 (currently called Darkness Rising, but it won’t stay that as it conflicts with a Kelley Armstrong title) will be released one month after the other, with Darkness Unbound currently slated for a October 2011 release (but given the release date for this book has changed 4 times already, don’t write it down in your diaries yet!). Sadly, this does mean that the revamped Ripple Creek series has been pushed back until 2012.

In other writing news, I’ve started Risa 3, even though this is not yet contracted (it will be–Bantam have already said they want it. It’s just a matter of waiting for the money men to crunch a numbers so they can make an offer). And seeing I am ahead of schedule, I’m also planning to play around with that story that’s been in my head for a while (otherwise known as the secret project.) The muse is most happy!

The cover for Mercy Burns is now up on the Random House website, so I guess that means its now okay for me to share it here (and if it ain’t, it’s too late now!) So, without further comment, the aforementioned delicious cover:

Risa 2 (which currently has the working title Darkness Rising) has been finished! Well, the first draft has been, anyway. I can’t imagine any major changes will occur in the edit run through, although I have no doubt there will be lots of minor ones and more than a few spelling and grammar errors. My brain tends to not see them, which is a pain. Anyway, I’m really, really happy with the way it turned out, but I have sent it off to my lovely agent for an opinion (just in case I have no reason to be happy! lol) This book isn’t due to be handed in for a while, so I have the luxury of letting it sit for a month or so before I go back to edit it.

In the meantime, I have the Ripple Creek edits to do (for those who don’t know, Bantam bought the paperback rights for all my ImaJinn books and will start releasing them late next year. First up are Beneath a Rising Moon and Beneath a Darkening Moon). And once those edits are done, I might even be able to steal some time on the project that’s been bugging me for a while, but which I’ve ignored thanks to lack of time. I’ve only written a couple of chapters, but I love some of the characters and really want to get deeper into the world. And this one does have vampires–but trust me, these vamps are neither nice nor sexy. In fact, you wouldn’t want to be anywhere near them!

Just posted a 1st chapter snippet of Mercy Burns (out May next year) over at the Deadline Dames. The other Dames have been posting snippets of their work too, so its well worth the effort of scrolling down!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I had to journey out to Werribee Mansion to take some pics for the scene I’d set there. I was originally hoping that I’d find some sort of weapon stash there, because that would have made my life a whole lot easier. But I didn’t see anything more than a gun. And yeah, I know, a gun is dangerous, but I was after something more along the lines of a medieval axe. But as it turned out, what I found instead was an almost perfect replacement–a pick axe! And it was sitting in the exhibition area, which was just made for a massive fight scene. Although I’m afraid the cafeteria got a little singed in the story. lol

Anyway, for those who have never seen the mansion, here’s some pics (inside ones–I’m afraid I forgot about the outside!):

I love this bit of writing–the bit where the end is in sight and you know exactly what needs to happen. Of course, the only problem I have right now is that I’ve decided to set one of the major final scenes in the Werribee Mansion, and its been yonks since I’ve been anywhere near the place! So, I now need to go check the mansion out, just to make sure that it really is suitable–because Australia is not England, and there’s not many places that would actually have an old medieval type axe up on display. And why is an axe important, I hear you ask? Sorry, that’s something of a spoiler, so I really can’t say. hehehehehehe…

And of course, the mansion isn’t exactly going to come out of this scene in pristine condition, as it is the host of a major, major fight scene. Another reason for me to go check the place out–I need to get an idea of room sizes and contents

And because I am near the end and don’t want any interruptions, naturally I’m going to get copy edits landing on my doorstep. Or virtual doorstep, in this case, as we’re doing them electronically with this lot. This time it’s the edits for Beneath a Rising Moon, which Bantam have bought the paperback rights for and which will be coming out late next year sometime (exact date hasn’t yet been decided). Luckily, the edits aren’t actually needed back until late Nov, so I have a good chance of finishing the second Risa first.

blogging at the Deadline Dames today, answering a couple of reader questions.

and because this was such a brief blog, here’s a random couple of lines from Darkness Unbound

Mod cons are us, I thought with a smile as I stepped into the shower and the water automatically came on at just the right temperature. Sometimes, there were benefits to being obscenely rich, and one of those was never having to battle with the water temperature or do the laundry. I hated washing and ironing–something I’d picked up from my aunt, according to my mom. Of course, she also blamed Riley for my Coca-Cola addiction, but I honestly think I was born with that. I liked to joke that if I cut one of my veins open, it’d bleed fizzy brown liquid rather than blood.

How’s that for a tease?