Ramblings of an Australian Writer

Oops, I only just remembered it's Wednesday. That's what having a long weekend with the public holiday on a Monday does to you. Or maybe what it does to me. Anyhoodle, it's another What's Up Wednesday and here we go!



WHAT I'M READING.

I'm 1/4 of the way through Dark Lover, the first book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J. R. Ward. So far, I'm enjoying it. I like Ward's ideas about vampire mythology and how the world of the vampire and the hunter has been constructed as a parallel to the human world. I also quite like that these vampires aren't kept alive by human blood, but by blood of their own kind. A clever little twist. The MFC is Beth and she has an adorably written cat named Boo. I hope Boo lives to tell the tale because I love it when pets are part of a story and I'm always hopeful they don't get forgotten in the narrative.

I have sadly put aside The Genome by the amazing Sergei Lukyanenko. I was half way through it but there was a lot that I didn't enjoy about it and every time I looked at it to finish it, I just didn't want to. So for now it's a DNF. I might go back to it at a later date, we'll see. It makes me sad because he is SUCH an incredible writer, and this is his first translated to English novel outside the Night Watch series.

WHAT I'M WRITING (+ A WRITING GOAL).

I am 51% (according to my stats on Write Track) into Book, Line and Sinker. My goal is to finish it by the end of June or the early days of July. That's a bit fluid because a lot depends on my medication. More on that below.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME.

Sleep. Quiet. The sound of rain on the roof. The internet not being down, because it's hard to research something when your ISP suddenly drops out. My cat cuddling up beside me. <-- Same as last week!

WHAT ELSE IS NEW.

I have started medication for epilepsy. They are walloping me about a bit, due to adjusting to them and the side effects. I hope that it all evens out soon, but for now, I'm just very tired and worn out, and wishing it would all stop.

It's winter here now, and it's freezing. Insofar as this is Australia and our winter is pretty mild compared to the Northern Hemisphere, it's colder than usual and drier than normal. Though there's been some heavy rain, it hasn't been as much as last year, and the cloud cover is less, meaning that it is really bloody cold! I love winter, but I'm not a fan of freezing!

I think I mentioned all this last week. Well, I've also been out and about a bit with my brother and my mum, taking photos on the new camera I have, and oh I love this thing, I love it so much. It's so shiny and spiffy and it has a huuuuuuuuuge zoom lense and an anti-shaking setting, which is awesome as I do shake a bit now. So yay for that!

And now it's time for Would I Lie to You? which is the most hilarious show ever. It's all good.



L-R: The sea at Semaphore beach; My brother's truck all loaded up; Things you don't see every day--a truck carrying a train; The beautiful building that is the Largs Pier Hotel; The fort of Fort Largs which is a heritage site.

More about What's Up Wednesdays here.

(I know it's Thursday here in Australia, but it's still Wednesdays in the Northern Hemisphere, so it's all good.)

So it seems that What's Up Wednesday is over. (Reasons are here). I'm sad about that, as I rather enjoyed them. So this will be my last formal-ish WuW, as I go off and ponder what to do to kick myself in the butt to blog *things* rather than links to new books and cover reveals. Because while those are nice, people don't read blogs just for those things, they read blogs to connect, to learn things, to be entertained--the same reasons people read books, basically. And I don't want to be one of those authors whose blog/social media platform of choice is full of nothing but promo of the me-me-me variety. So. I will endeavour to do more bloggy things, and will search out ways to kick start myself into doing that.

It may well be (I hope) that once my life quietens down in May, I won't need that extra push to blog. Certainly I didn't need that before 2015 began, and this year has been a riot of appointments, disasters, dramas, curveballs and what feels like a million edits! (The edits I like. The edits are educational. Trufax.) I have high hopes for the end of May, beginning of June, so fingers and toes crossed that those hopes aren't crushed beneath the weight of more appointments, disasters, dramas and curveballs. From my fingers to the universe's ears, eh? Anyhoo, let's get on with this last WuW.


WHAT I'M READING.

I've set aside The Genome for the moment to read Synners by Pat Caddigan. I've only read twenty pages so far, but I'm enjoying it! It's cyberpunk, it's great world building, and so far, so good.


WHAT I'M WRITING (+ A WRITING GOAL).

In between edits and other things, I've been working on Book, Line and Sinker, which is a contemporary m/m set in my home state of South Australia, in one of my most favourite places here, Quorn and the Flinders Ranges. I think it's that love of the area that makes writing this such a breeze for me, and such a joy, too. It's been some years since I was last up that way (it's a long way from home!), but I love the area so much and it's stayed with me in mind and heart, even if I can't be there in person. So the book is coming along pretty well so far.

My goal here is to have it finished and sub'd by the end of the year. Fingers crossed.


WHAT WORKS FOR ME.

So you know how the last one of these I did, I mentioned sleep? Yeah. Sleep. Sleep is amazing, can I say. Also amazing? Not getting random text messages and calls at stupid o'clock. I'm a big fan of that! A little more seriously though, I wrote a whole lot the other day while having my iPod play my entire collection of Within Temptation tracks/albums, and I managed to get in the zone and stay there for a good long while, long enough to put down 4000 words, so I count that as a win.


WHAT ELSE IS NEW.

My niece's wedding is in 14 days. My brother will be moving down here. I'm having neurology appointment sessions at the end of May. Erm... oh, medications have been altered a little for other issues. Adjusting to that is making me very tired, ngl. Otherwise? Not much is new! Oh! I got a new tattoo, and am planning my third one. I dyed my hair, so now I have no regrowth (that'll change, my hair grows fast!), and I'm brigher red than a traffic light. SO MUCH RED.

And as always, I close out with a little picture slide. Enjoy. Love youse all. xXx.



L-R: Latest weaving project; a bunch of honeyeaters having a party in the birdbath in the back garden. They're so adorable... but LOUD! Me with my redone bright red hair; a view of Saltia in the Flinders Ranges; my tattoo shoes (made by Hot Chocolate) at the tattoo studio.

More about What's Up Wednesdays here.

WHAT I'M READING.

I'm quarter of the way through The Quick by Lauren Owen. I had absolutely zero expectations about this when I borrowed it from the library--the blurb told me absolutely nothing, so I borrowed it based on the cover. (See? Cover art matters!)

I certainly didn't expect a gay romance that was very sensitively and tenderly written set in Victorian London. And I didn't expect suddenly! Vampires! either. So there's that.

WHAT I'M WRITING (+ A WRITING GOAL).

I've made a start on my paranormal. I settled on my shifter being a were-coyote because why not? And I chose my setting, made up a town on the coast of Massachusettes (seriously gorgeous area there) and wrote most of the first chapter yesterday.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME.

Right now, weaving. I can just not think and weave, and it's kind of nice to have that mindless activity going. Which is not to say that weaving is mindless, because it isn't, and it can be quite difficult. At the moment, I'm working on a scarf for my good friend meredith_shayne to go with armwarmers that I wove for her. It's nice to sit and work on the weave--it's like a bit of a brain cleanse, because I'm not thinking/stressing/worrying/plotting books, and it clears the cobwebs in the brain meats so to speak.

WHAT ELSE IS NEW.

More bullet points!

I clocked my head on the outside part of the split system airconditioner unit a few days ago and now my head is starting to hurt a LOT. I have a doctor's appointment next week, so this will be mentioned, but I'm not enjoying the bump on my noggin!

Cleared out the raised garden bed yesterday, and wowsa, it's amazing how stuff I pulled up. Mum (I'm her live-in carer) held a large garbage bag for me to stuff everything into. I had this idea that I'd pull up the basil and replant it elsewhere, but I discovered that it was very deeply rooted and had become something of a small tree, so I gave up. Also because I had the feeling if I kept trying to pull it out, I'd end up sprawled on my backside on concrete and I didn't like that idea at all. So the basil wins and stays put!

Have figured out the wedding gift for my niece and her fiance. One part will be hand woven by me, one part will be hand beaded by my friend M., and the last part is coming from a potter I know up in Queensland. So it's all very exciting and I hope they like everything.

FINALLY watched Haider, which is the Bollywood interpretation of Hamlet and... oh. OH. I have so much love for this, I really, really do. It was a wonderful adaptation, set in 1995 in Kashmir, during a period of unrest and rebellion between the Kashmiri people and the Indian army. The two most famous soliloquys ("Alas, poor Yorick..." and "To be or not to be...") were woven into the dialogue brilliantly. Tabu, who played the Hamlet mother character, was *sensational*, and Shahid Kapoor, who played Haider (Hamlet) was phenomenal. And the actors who played the grave diggers were brilliant. This film is a definite favourite and I really think it's one of the best Bollywoods I've seen in a while. And I say this as a Bollywood fan.

Less happily, my uncle in France died a few days ago. I am worried about my cousin, who is of course devestated. It's a sad loss.

L-R: Shahid Kapoor as Haider in Haider; Scarf wip, though it's much longer now!; Mum's new Doc Marten shoes; One of my mosaic solar powered garden lights; Two bottles of one of my favourite wines, White Barossa by Kies Winery.

Via my friends list, comes a new-to-me weekly blog hop, which I'm hoping will get me into blogging a bit more. I've been very absent the last few months for a variety of reasons, most of them personal. It's my hope that by doing this, I'll be able to get back into blogging a bit, and back into writing a bit, as I feel rather flat at the current moment. I have ideas and notes sitting in my notebook de jour, but no energy to write. So, baby steps, I think, and hopefully, all being well, the flatness I'm feeling will be lessened.

The blog hope is a weekly thing, for Wednesdays, and is pretty easy. Information is here, and there are some good examples here. Given that it's Wednesday per US timezones, that makes it Thursday for us in Australia, but I figured I'd post my entries on Australia!Wednesday and then pop the link on the required page when it goes up later in my timezone. Clear as mud? Marvellous!

So later tonight, I'll put up my fist Wednesday post, all being well. :)