Ramblings of an Australian Writer

A very belated happy new year to everyone! I've been quiet here because of one thing: heatwave hell. It's been stinking hot in Australia since late Dec '12, and the heat has really sapped my energy - along with most of Australia. Today is actually pleasant, low 20s, so I'm getting myself into gear and catching up on things.

Firstly, I am thrilled and honoured that "No Quarter" is nominated in the Best Romance Novels category at the Preditors and Editors poll. I'm with some amazing talent, which is a real thrill for me. If you'd like to vote (and please do!), the poll for that category is here. The nominees are listed alphabetically by title, so "No Quarter" is half way down the page. :)

Secondly, I read some great books in 2012. I don't really like reviewing, per se, but I'm all about rec links, so here are the books that I most enjoyed and links to places to buy them. I should also note that these are not necessarily newly released in 2012 - there are also books in the list that were new to me in 2012.

In no particular order:

1. The Danilov Quintet by Jasper Kent.
Only three out so far.
2. The Prince and The Program by Aldous Mercer.
3. The Bastard Prince by Megan Derr.
4. The Remy Chandler series by Thomas E. Sniegoski.
5. The God Eaters by Jesse Hajicek.
Free read here.

So there we go. Now, to finish up the polishing of "City of Jade," which I'm hoping to submit this month, and to finish writing my vampire story for LT3. :D

How's life treating you guys?

It's Round Four of voting on covers for the 2012 Rainbow Awards. I am humbled and thrilled that the cover for No Quarter is still in the race.

So if you'd like to help out and vote, and I'd love it if you did, please go here and cast your ballot.

* If you don't have a Live Journal, don't fret - you can log in using your Facebook or Twitter and vote accordingly. :D

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In writing and publishing news, book three, No Shadows Fall has a release date of the 29th October. And to celebrate all October releases, Dreamspinner Press is having what is, I think, the most awesome giveaways - the tweetaway! If you don't have a twitter but still want to participate and bag yourself free books, bookmark the DSP twitter, right here.

Less Than Three Press has closed submissions for the Rockstar Anthology Collection, in which I have a story called >Capsicum Head. It's about an Aussie punk rock band in the 80s and their highs and lows on tour to the town of Port Pirie and the city of Melbourne. LT3 does have two open calls which, if I may say, look pretty awesome, and I'm planning to have something for the vampire call. If you're reading this..." Message In A Bottle call and Vampire call info.

I am currently at 65K words on City of Jade, the novel sequel to my short story, City of Gold. I am actually amazed at myself right now, I seem to be averaging 5K words a day and this story is practically writing itself. When I picked it up again, I had 30K words down, and now I'm powering along like a writing machine. With a very sore wrist. Ow. I'm really enjoying writing this, I get a lot of joy out of looking at blogs and photos and scholarly and academic research about where this book takes place, which is the Silk Road from Constantinople to Chang'an and then to Li'nan. (Istanbul - Xi'an - Hangzhou). It's set in 1141-42, and is the story of Gallienus of Constantinople and Misahuen of Gyeongju and their trip to find a new home in the Song Dynasty's capital, Li'nan. I would love to follow their journey as a tourist. It's on my bucket list.

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I have gone on a herb growing kick, and my little herb garden in pots is going great guns. My mint is, I'm convinced, related to triffids. If I'm attacked by sentient mint, you all know what happened. Avenge me and honour my memory, friends.

Ahem. Anyhoo, I have mint, parsley, rosemary, lavender, chilli and thyme. (My landlady gave me the thyme. How awesome is that?) I plan to get some perenial corriander (cilatro to my US friends) and some basil, and that should tide me over for the time being. Until I spy something else I must try my hand at growing. Fresh herbs, though, omg. SO GOOD. So very, very good.

I wanted to get all my formatting and submitting of book two of my Archangel series out of the way before blogging about the Preditors and Editors book poll. Also, doing that and filling in the cover art sheet for No Quarter gave me time to calm down from my !!!!! a little, too.

My short story, City of Gold is nominated for best short story: romance, over here (if, you know, you want to vote. XD) I'm thrilled, too, to see that the Erotica Apocrypha anthology is up for best anthology, here.

I'm delighted to see that Dreamspinner Press, one of my publishers, is up for best publisher. They do great books, so I'm not shy about asking you all to vote for them, right over here. Riptide Press, and Candlemark and Gleam are also nominated.

Finally, congratulations to meredith_shayne, whose Aussie cowboy novel Equilibrium is nominated for best erotica novel, here and to RJ Astruc, whose Aussie/NZ cyberpunk novel Harmonica and Gig is nominated for best fantasy/sci-fi novel, here. Go vote for them, because they deserve it, the books are both fantastic, great storytelling, engaging narrative and tremendously enjoyable worldbuilding.