So the first draft is done

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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And now the fun begins. I re-read and decide if I have written 166,600 words of crap or something so brilliant my star will shine in the firmament…

…or more probably something somewhere between. I will cut and expand and polish and tear my hair and weep and laugh and swear. And somewhere in the next 2o days a book will emerge that might be halfway readable.

We’ll see.

And as I submit the MS for my editors have their first look at the end of this month, folk in the US and UK will get their first look at The Last Stormlord, and folk in Australia will be buying Stormlord Rising. Ye gods, life is exciting sometimes.

Reading cuts stress by more than two thirds!

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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This via Making Light:

Reading worked best, reducing stress levels by 68 per cent, said cognitive neuropsychologist Dr David Lewis. Subjects only needed to read, silently, for six minutes to slow down the heart rate and ease tension in the muscles, he found. In fact it got subjects to stress levels lower than before they started.

Listening to music reduced the levels by 61 per cent, have a cup of tea of coffee lowered them by 54 per cent and taking a walk by 42 per cent. Playing video games brought them down by 21 per cent from their highest level but still left the volunteers with heart rates above their starting point.

See the rest of the article here.
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95% done!

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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You may note that I have brought the goalpost a little closer…The first draft looks like coming in a little less lengthy than I anticipated. Books one and two were pretty much the same length, a shade over 180,000 words. I suspect this one in its final version is going to be about 10,000 words shorter than 1 and 2.

I am not one of those authors who necessarily gets wordier and wordier as the series progresses. The book length has to fit the story, and this one looks like being around 170,000 or a little more.

So, one more chapter to do! I am still maintaining a steady 2,000 words a day.

Best author day yet…

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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I have never had such a day as yesterday. Here is it in a nutshell blog.

I heard, separately, in different emails from different people:
  • Shadow of Tyr has gone to reprint in UK.
  • Having attracted the attention of 2 separate publishers, the Mirage Makers trilogy has had an offer that I am accepting for foreign language rights. Shan’t say any more because I haven’t signed on the dotted line yet. This is the second foreign language for the trilogy (the other was for French rights)
  • I heard some nice news from Orbit US about publicity for The Last Stormlord, which I’ll tell you about closer to the date.
  • Had some fabulous news from Orbit UK also about The Last Stormlord, which I’ll also tell you about later. Over the moon about this one. *Does little dance.*
  • HarperCollins Australia has submitted The Last Stormlord for the David Gemmell Legend Award.
  • Have had the first signs of an interest re The Last Stormlord for foreign language rights from two different countries. Nothing may come of these, but it’s never happened so early before.
  • And the whiz of a writer Karen Miller booked our room for World Aussicon in September. That’s right – we are room mates again. Yay!!
So I told my husband as he went out to meet a friend tonight that he ought to buy a lottery ticket…

Oh, yeah, you know how much actual writing I did? Just about none.
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Birding around Brisbane, Queensland

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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All good birding trips start with food and friends…
Some of my favorite people offered us their hospitality and drove the car and showed us the birds. Many thanks to Aun Tiah, Siew Ping and Dr Smathi Chong
Good birding trips have very early starts. Geez, the sun gets up early in Qld…And include different habitats…

Including some that look familiar in this case. This photo could so have been taken in Malaysia…

It was great to be in a place where the infrastructure is well looked after. We visited Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve, and several parts of Brisbane Park, plus odd stops to look at roadside ponds and fields etc around Nambour where we stayed the night.

And there’s always someone who is looking the other way when a good bird drops by…

Aurealis Awards night, Brisbane 2010: photos

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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Above: winner of fantasy novel award Trudi Canavan, and myself;
Below: with fellow Voyager author, Nicole Murphy
Below: Trudi giving speech of thanks after receiving the award
Below: Cat Sparks, after receiving her award

Below: HarperCollins editor, Stephanie Smith with Cat

Below: Stephanie and myself
Matthew Farrer, Donna Hanson and myself.