just a quick note...

to let you all know I've created a google group. As I said on my website, while it's primarily intended to be a newsletter group, conversations and questions are most welcome. :) If you'd like to join, there's a subscribe box over on my site, or you could simply send me an email and I'll send you an invite.

words written and a dental visit...

I remember what I did on Friday now--I broke a tooth. There I was, happily munching on my morning muesli while reading my emails when I hit something hard. Turned out to be a huge chunk of my tooth (who knew muesli could be so dangerous to teeth?) Anyway, I couldn't get into the dentist on Friday (naturally), meaning I had to face the rest of Friday and the entire weekend with a tooth that was razor sharp and sawing at my tongue everytime it moved. Very unpleasant. So, yesterday morning I choofed off and had the thing rebuilt. More metal in my mouth--joy!

Of course, another of the joys of dental visits is that 'fat-feeling mouth' you're left with afterwards. Mine lasted until well after lunchtime, but once it felt normal again, I decided I had better get some work happening. After several false starts and many deletions, the muse finally decided to cooperate and I ended up writing 8 pages. I introduced a couple of new characters yesterday, and one of them may or may not become an ongoing part of the series (haven't actually decided yet). But given I'm intending to lose one semi-regular character at the end of this book, as well as intending to kill off another in either book 6 or book 7 (hoping there is a book 6 and 7, of course), having newer characters ready to step into the gap is a good thing. One thing I have done in this book is give Riley some female friends. One character was actually introduced in book three, the other in book four. While one of them is more a adversarial relationship than an actual friendship, the other will become something Riley values greatly. And she'll need some good friends with the crap I intend to throw at her! :D (Yes, yes, I'm evil, throwing out hints like that and not explaining.)

good days, bad days, and car rallys...

I started off the writing week determined to do a minimum of ten pages a day, and it went really well for the first couple of days. Managed to get 12 pages on Monday, 10 on Tuesday, and 8 on Wednesday. Then it all went to hell. Thursday was a lost cause, because I had no idea how I was going to stop the bad guy doing all the murders in this book, and I ended up cruising the net doing a whole lot of research. Found some really cool magic sites in the process, but it was actually a research paper on the use of iron and its relation to magic down through the ages that gave me the answer I needed. But of course, by the time I found that site, it was nearing tea time. And then 15, Jericho and Bones was on, so no writing done. (I tend not to tape if I can help it, because I always forget to watch them). I have no idea what I did Friday, but it certainly didn't involve writing in any way, shape or form.

We had another open house on Saturday, so it was mad clean up time in the morning, then we grabbed the dogs and went visiting (they love going for drives, which is just as well, because the friend we visited lives down whoop-whoop way. Which is Aussie for the back of beyond ;)) And today we went on a car rally--and won! We were convinced we'd be next to last, because everyone was zooming past us at a rate of knots and we got sidetracked (fancy term for lost) near the end. The rally ended up at a bird sanctuary and maze (and yep, we also got lost in the maze), and the organisers managed to get the BBQ done before the weather set in and the rain came down. It turned out we were the only ones that answered all the questions right (well, except for one which they ended up taking out because the actual question wasn't clear and they got a thousand different answers, none of them right). So, a good, fun family day for the Arthurs :) I'm writing right now, and I'm hoping to get at least five pages done before I have to feed the crew. And of course, Aussie Idol is on tonight (go the Irish guy!), so no writing after tea for me tonight. But I'm going to have to make up for lost pages next week, otherwise this book is never going to meet the deadline.

good news...

As I announced over on my website, my most excellent news for the week is that Piatkus have picked up the UK and Commonwealth rights for the Guardian Series. To say I haven't been able to keep the grin off my face would be the understatement of the year. My books will finally be available on the shelf in not only the UK, but Australia and NZ, meaning I might finally achieve a long held dream of walking into a bookstore and seeing my book sitting on the shelf. (I have seen all my books in Rosemary's, but I have to fly up to Brisbane for the privilage. It'll be nice to see my books down here in Melbourne town.) I haven't got any other details yet, but as soon as I know release dates, etc, I'll let you all know.

In more mundane writing news, I finally had a good writing day yesterday. Which, after three days of doing practically nothing, was about time. I have an excuse--I finally just had to do something about the grout in our tiles--it was disgustingly dirty and needed to be cleaned. So I did. And I have no fingerprints left on my fingertips to prove it. (mainly because the only thing that would remove the muck from the grout was a mix of half bleach, half water, and a scrubbing brush, and all that tend to be harsh of hands). Anyway, I did 18 pages yesterday, and finally hit the halfpoint of 200 pages. I'm hoping the good writing vibe will continue for the next few days, so I can start getting ahead of my required daily wordcount. I'll need some words up my sleeve, because we shift house in about a month, and that's going to cut into writing time.

two steps forward, one back...

finally managed to finish the Tempting Evil galley on Monday, and I've choofed off the corrections to Bantam. Which leaves me free to write again--at least until the next lot of edits, or galleys come in. :)

Yesterday was a stop start sort of day when it came to writing. In the morning, I read through the last couple of chapters of Embraced to get a feel for where I was, then I decided re-grouting the bath was a better option. (ten years of wear and tear had made the grouting along the edge of the bath all cracked and horrible, and given we're selling the house, I thought we'd better do something about it.) So, I regrouted, which wasted a whole hour. Not nearly enough time in my muse's opinion, but I sat down anyway. It felt like pulling teeth, but I managed to write five pages in the end. Then it was lunch, and after that, taking the dogs for a walk, and then other household chores I usually avoid unless I'm trying to avoid writing. I finally made myself sit down after tea and read what I'd wrote. It read like it had felt when being written--like teeth being pulled. So, I deleted two pages, rewrote the others, then ended up adding another five. My overall pagecount for the day was eight, but the reality was probably more like eleven. But the good thing is that I finally got a clue as to where the current scene was leading, and Riley is finally about to get into a number of fight scenes. Yay! Doesn't feel like a real story until someone is smacking flesh. My muse is a violent little soul at times. :D

another good day...

at the office. I managed to get 10 pages of writing done, and read nearly a hundred pages of the Tempting Evil galley. Mighty pleased with that effort. Of course, I'm getting to the stage of the story where I start panicking that there's not enough happening--and in Embraced, that worry seems to be increasing. Mainly because, unlike previous Riley novels, there's not a whole lot of fight scenes in this one yet. There's been a couple of brutal murders that she's investigating, a couple of angsty scenes with her pack alpha, and some nice scenes with Kellen, but as yet, no fighting. Hence the worry. Still, all I can do is keep on writing and see what it reads like when it's finished.

On a completely different note...HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBYN!! Hope it's a good one :)

lunch was good...

went out to lunch with the Melbourne Mob (a bunch of fantastic Melbourne authors) yesterday, and a good time was had. Normally I would have written in the morning before I left, but we had a house inspection in the AM, it was raining, and the fuzzy puppy took great delight in running around in all that lovely mud then tracking it back through the house. Needless to say, lots of cleaning was done. Then we went for a walk. In the rain. I got soaked, and so did the dogs (only they loved it). And when we got back, we discovered it was all for naught, because the woman coming to inspect the house got called into work and wasn't able to make it. Oh, the joys of house selling. Anyway, I'm hoping to get my five pages done reasonably early today, because I need to buckle down and read the Tempting Evil galley. It's due on Monday, so I'm running out of time here!

a good man dies...

Steve Irwan was an over-the-top, often cringe-worthy personality who was so totally passionate about his family and wildlife. He was also a man who put his money where his mouth is, and that seems to be a rare breed of man in these 'do what I can for me' days. He was larger than life and had always seemed invincible, but even Steve knew his time would come. In his last Aussie interview, he said he intended to die fighting for conservation and wildlife. Yesterday, while making a documentary up in Queensland, that's what happened. Steve Irwan died, killed by a stingray barb to the heart.

I was never a fan of his TV shows, not a fan of his often over the top behaviour. But I was a total fan of what he stood for, and what he was trying to do. Conservation and wildlife has lost its greatest warrior, and the world is poorer for his death.

Rest in peace, Steve.

happy fathers day...

the first Sunday of September has rolled around here in Oz, which means it's Fathers Day. So, happy dads day to all the dads, soon to be dads and granddads out there. I'm off to see my dad in Yarrawonga today (first time in ages we've actually been up there), so it's all day gone and no writing for me today.

talk tomorrow!