Hi Everyone,
I try to write my blog every month between the 15-20th of each month, so today I’m just scraping in hehe. I’ve been a bit lethargic the last couple of weeks and can’t seem to get myself back on track. Has that happened to you?
There’s a million things I need to do with my writing career, in the garden, in the house, even catching up with friends, but I keep putting them on the back burner. All I really want to do is be self-indulgent and read Christmas romances and watch Christmas movies on Netflix.
So, I’ve decided to be easy on myself and write a little, work in the yard a little, work in the house a little, and indulge a little as well.
A few weeks ago, I was so lucky to be asked by my writing friend Dianna Evans otherwise known as DL Nix to be a guest on her podcast on ‘Finding Elara’. Click here to have a listen.
Finding Elara is a Young Adult Fantasy about the land of Elara and how the people that live there have been gifted with a Pearl that grows in their belly button which holds magic.
Join Adonia and her companions as she comes into her abilities and learns her limitations. Will Adonia grow into her family heritage and face each challenge head on? Wait until the book comes out to find out.
I really enjoyed participating in her podcast, and admire what a great job she has done not only with her book, but also her website and podcast. Dianna has some really interesting guests on, so please do yourself a favour and check it out.
At the start of the month I also had the privilege of attending the West Coast Fiction Festival where I met lots of great authors, who I have to say, were all so incredibly kind, interesting, helpful and genuine. I purchased waaay too many books (I couldn’t resist). I was a kid in the proverbial candy shop. Big thanks to Dannielle Line who was my partner in crime.
The highlight of the festival for me was that I met Lili Saint Germain. For those of you who don’t know her, let me introduce her to you.
It was Christmas 2014 or 2015, I can’t remember which one, and while my husband worked over the holiday period I scrolled through Google Books and found her first book ‘Seven Sons’. It was a dark romance about a girl hell-bent on seeking revenge on the leader of a motorcycle gang who had killed her father, and stole her innocence in the most brutal way. The Series shows how she seeks revenge and in the process finds love. The books are so well written; gut-wrenching, compelling, and emotional (if you don’t shed hot tears I’d be surprised). It’s definitely not for the fainthearted. I wish I could write as well as she does. Maybe one day!
I could not put it down. My eyes blurred as I read the first book within a couple of hours. Not only was I hooked, but I was addicted like a crack whore. Only my drug of choice were the rest of the books in her series. Over the next four days I read every book. When I finished, I was gutted, inspired, enthralled, every adjective I could think of to describe ‘fuck yeah’! Her books cause a book hangover – the feeling you get after reading a good book that you can’t seem to stop thinking about.
After looking her up on the internet I discovered she was a self-published author living in Perth. “Oh. My. God. I am so going to write a book and self-publish.” Lili St Germain was my inspiration! And now I have.
When I met her, I told her as much. She was the most genuine and sincere author I met and was actually interested in me as well. She signed her book for me (which I will treasure), and in turn I whipped out my book ‘Justice’ and signed it for her. Again, she has managed to inspire me… and I don’t say this lightly, because I have met heaps of authors over the years, and I’m slightly jaded in that respect, but I was impressed by what a gorgeous soul she is.
Here is the opening lines from her book Seven Sons –
Confucius said, “Before embarking upon a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”
I planned to dig seven.
Sometimes I don’t think about it for hours at a time. Sometimes, a whole day will pass, and it’ll be there, under the surface, burning my insides with the brutality of its truth. My truth.
I don’t know about you, but I needed to find out what her truth was.
I came home from the WCFF fired up to write, with a box full of signed books and having made some great new writing friends. So glad I went.
So, what am I doing about it? Well, as I said, I’ve fallen into a bit of a rut, but I am slowly dragging myself out by my fingernails. My wonderful cover designer and myself have been busy creating a fantastic cover for the follow up book to Justice called ‘An Unholy Gift’.
I’m also working hard to make the necessary changes and edits to my manuscript. Most of my beta-readers loved it and gave me awesome feedback. There was one ‘negative nelly’ but growing a thick skin comes with the job description, and taking that feedback and making the story better is what it’s all about.
My romance novel ‘Having Faith’ is still with Escape Publishing. Fingers crossed they love it and offer to publish in the new year.
I just want to end my blog with this fabulous review I saw just today on Amazon. It was posted up by I’m presuming a random reader, Katie Silvi who I’d sincerely like to thank.
Katie Silvi