Middle of the month

Where is the year going? Did I blink and miss half of March? Just kidding.

So, our weather has calmed down – nowhere near as hot, but having said that, we’ve got our first very local bushfire for about 10 years or so. We are expecting 38 Celsius, and I know they’ve jumped on the fire pretty quick, but I’ve got my aircon on to stop smoke coming in. The joys of being asthmatic. Them’s the breaks as we used to say. Other than that, I’ll keep monitoring it.

Onto news.

Stuff your Kindle

So, my books are currently available for 99c at Stuff your Kindle. So, if you want them cheap, feel free to grab them. They’ll be cheap for a few days’ more.

Kindle Unlimited

One of the stories is with the editor now. The other one will take a little longer, but that’s okay. I don’t mind that one taking a bit longer. My cover artist is champing at the bit to get his hands on this one!

The Dark Road

Still with the beta readers, so still waiting on that.

Dark Beginnings

Still on hold, but I hope to get back into it really soon.

Consequences

Heart of Deception

Again, with beta readers. Hopefully will have that back very soon. The new cover is extremely different to the other cover it had.

Legacy of Risks

Still with my friend, but early indications are that I’ve done it justice, so that’s a bonus.

Dangerous Heart

Almost done tweaking it, then it’ll go to beta readers before being sent to the publisher for a final once-over.

New universes

I have been visiting Malevictus again and toying with ideas from that. Will get into that once we get the other books published.

Paranormal

Still looking into the anthology for this one and hopefully, get more of that published as well.

I don’t have any words of wisdom regarding the English language this fortnight, but what I do want to share is something I think is important.

Most of the so-called “writing rules” are not rules. They’re conventions and conventions can be broken and go out of style.

This is why I always follow the Macquarie Dictionary (and so does my editor, so if I miss something, she usually picks it up) and the Australian Government Style Manual. There is an Australian Style Guide, however, when I started out on this journey, that wasn’t available and I’m not about to change.

For those who are not Australian, you will find my grammar and punctuation may be somewhat different to what you are used to. Please, don’t let that put you off the story or the characters. It’s all about the book, not the mechanics. (oh, dear. Yes, I did say that, even though I notice typos in what I read. Never mind. Move along. Nothing to see here.)

Anyway, must go, have lots to do and I’ll talk to you in a couple of weeks!

Take it easy and remember to breathe. That’s the most important thing you can do.

February start

Wow! Already February! Hopefully, it won’t be as fast (I know, wishful thinking). Anyway, I have a lot of news.

Big one, big one – I have entered the Western Australian State Premier’s Writing Awards. Fingers are crossed that something will come of it.

Also, I have expanded my distribution and all 3 books will be released to other online stores on Wednesday 12 February. There are a few places I wouldn’t mind adding, but they’re emails to the company and I’ll look into that later.

That took me just about all of yesterday (Saturday)! But I got it done!

Kindle Unlimited

I have finished two stories to go into Kindle Unlimited, I’m just waiting for beta readers to have a look at those.

They’re both part of the Clans in Conflict universe and Alex Travis plays a role in those.

Clans in Conflict

I am still waiting on beta readers for The Dark Road. I’ve been promised they’re nearly finished, but I’m getting a little antsy on that.

For that reason, Dark Beginnings is still on hold. And that one I’m actually struggling with because there’s going to be a lot of politics in it and – well, that’s not really my strong point.

Consequences

Still waiting on proof readers to finish with Heart of Deception but it shouldn’t be too much longer.

I’m still editing Legacy of Risks and that’s still plodding along.

New universes

I had a quick look over Malevictus’s story yesterday and, yeah, that will need looking at before it goes out to beta readers.

And I’m still writing Alek’s story. (Don’t worry, I’m a little annoyed that it’s another Alek/Alex, too.) Poor shifter’s been through the ringer, just like his cousin.

Paranormal

I’m looking at a publishing house for the paranormal, but that will be a long way off. Any short stories will probably go under that banner as well.

New writing program

As I said last time, I have discovered Lore Forge and while I love it, I have had a few instances in the past week where it has frozen and blanked all the text. When it came back, all the text was there, but it was a little disconcerting. (Understatement – heart-pounding, sweat pouring – come on! Where are those words????)

I still like using it, though. It’s stripped back and works with my strange brain!

We’ve finally hit some cooler weather, but only until next Friday, then higher temps again. Oh, well, summer will be over soon. Like, 2 more months … then I’ll probably be complaining about the c-c-c-cold! Haha

Anyway, got some more writing to do, so have a great 2 weeks!

New year

Well, it’s almost the end of 2024!

What a year it’s been.

I’ve successfully wrenched control of one of my books from the defunct publisher and managed to publish a second edition of it. So, it’s in 2 parts, but in the future I may put out a single version so both parts are in one book. At over 160,000 words, it’s going to be a huge book.

I have also successfully published its sequel. This was due to be published by the original publisher, but I’m glad it wasn’t because I didn’t have to jump through any hoops to publish it.

So, on with news!

Clans in Conflict

As I said, Dark Dimensions Parts 1 and 2 are available to purchase from Amazon. I have yet to take it to other distributors. I’m still working on that.

Dark Reign, the sequel, is also published through Amazon and will be distributed more widely hopefully some time in the near future.

The Dark Road, the third book in the series, is with beta readers to check for its pacing, etc., and whether it actually works as a story.

Dark Beginnings – the story of Vlad the Supreme – is currently being written, but I still have a lot of other things to do before I can finish that.

Dark Dimensions Parts 1 and 2, and Dark Reign can be found here: www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CTHRMJQW

Consequences

Heart of Deception Edition 2 has been edited and is with a beta reader to see whether they can pick up any issues with it. Cover artist is already working on the cover art for that.

Legacy of Risks is still being rewritten. It will be an edition 2 when it’s completed. That needs to go to the editor and beta readers, so it will be a while yet.

Dangerous Heart has been edited but needs tweaking, but as it has not been published it is still an edition 1.

Website

I am still working on my website rebuild. With all of the upheaval with Christmas and New Year, I didn’t really get a chance to work on it, but I will get back to it. I have built some of it but I need to really spend some time on it.

General stuff

Aircon is fixed just in time for another heat wave from Tuesday onwards! We’ve had some cooler weather which was a great respite, but now the aircon is fixed it’s much more bearable.

Hopefully, next time I’ll have more news to share with you!

In the meantime, have a safe and great New Year and talk to you in 2025 (oh, that’s scary!)!