that over a week has past since I last blogged. I really don’t know what’s happened–the days have just seemed to have merged into each other and disappeared. Weird.

Many of the bushfires here in Victoria continue to burn, and the terrible toll on people and animals continues to grow. The figures of destruction are so big they’re hard to even contemplate. But there’s some amazing stories of survival, heroism, and generosity coming out of these fires too, and its these things that keeps us all going, I think. The human spirit has really shone this past week. One small aspect of that is the red cross appeal–with a population of only 21 million and most of us feeling the pinch of high prices and a world economic downturn, the people of Australia have already donated over 100 million to the red cross this week. That is an amazing figure, especially when you consider so much more has been given in the way of time, goods, comfort and support. Of course, the people who have lost everything will need all the help we can give them for months to come and I hope people don’t forget that.

On to some writing news–Bound to Shadows ( Riley 8 ) has finally been finished and handed in, but the bad news is that the release date has now been pushed back. It’ll be out in November instead of September. Sorry about that! I’m currently revising Mercy Burns, the second Myth and Magic book, and then I’ll have to roll onto the outline of Riley 9, because both need to be handed in mid-March. Then I’ve got a whole five months to write and hand in Riley 9. So, I’m a little busy over the next few months. lol.