It has been a funny couple of weeks here at home on shady lane. On the downside: head colds, my car was badly keyed by a pack of rabid kids in a supermarket car park, and several slates blew off our roof in dramatic high winds. The 100+ year old slates hung precariously in the guttering, right over the front door, guillotine-like, until The Man of The House was able to do death-defying stunts to rescue them. Scary business. A friendly retired neighbour came over to point it out, lest they struck us down. She presented a true image of British pluck when she stood, gesticulating wildly and upwards from the end of the path, having knocked at the front door and run away. :-)
Thanks to the stinky head colds had by one and all here, I’ve got behind on my deadlines, and my fun time. Grrr. The Man of the House has been off work this week and we were intending to do a heap of fun stuff together. We’ve only managed to claw some of it back, with a gig on Monday night, and a beautiful romantic open-air picnic at Yorkshire Sculpture Park today. Heavenly, feeding each other sushi in the sunshine on the hillside. Sigh.
So, things are improving. Had some excellent news last night from Paula Guran, my editor at Juno books. My fantasy romance novel, The Strangeling, is tentatively scheduled for a Feb 2007 release. This is exciting.
More excitement today, when FedEx arrived with a big package containing my edits for my big contemporary erotic romance, Double Dare. I’ve been anticipating this for several months and now it’s here I’m feeling positively gleeful. (Like, its really going to happen, this book is really going to be printed ;-)) Some writers hate edits, but I love it and learn heaps along the way. First time on paper edits though, I’m used to doing it via computer docs. A quick glance shows it’s not too embarrassing. It seems most of the things I have to clarify are cultural differences – things like explaining that the City of London does have a capital C, because it refers to the square mile of London that was the historic city, now the financial zone, and that rugby is played on a pitch, not a field. Above all, it is exciting to be at this stage with my first big print novel. I shall be busy with it tomorrow. Thank God my head cold has cleared enough that I am not constantly reaching for the tissue box.
Many thanks to those who read and commented on the excerpt mentioned in the last post, feedback always much appreciated!
