It's been a bit quiet round here lately, but that's because EE, Danielle and I have been busy with final edits on Tangled up in Blue. It all started with a discussion over dinner over a year ago, and now we're in pre-release, with our newest book due to hit the shelves 30th November 2020.
We're very excited. Along the way we've learned more about editing, publishing, and each other than I ever thought possible. So what's it all about? Think Australian small towns, family secrets, estranged sisters and unexpected romance. There are three separate stories and each of us has brought something new and exciting to the compilation - there's fortune cookies, baking, coffee, sherbet cones, antique hip flasks, diaries, postcards, adventure racing, annual festivals and most importantly love - unrequited love, instantaneous love, rekindled love, forbidden love and sisterly love. Oh, and there's bowerbirds.... I can't wait for you to read it. A while ago, Danielle, Elaine and I went to a writing retreat unlike any we'd done previously. There was great food, peace and quiet and a challenge to think differently about our writing. Tangled up in Blue was born. Fast forward to September last year, and another rural trip, this time to the towns where the book was set, and our stories were written and ready to be integrated into a single timeline. Tangled up in Blue releases Spring 2020 in print and ebook, and Danielle, Elaine and I are very excited. I can't believe its April already. Easter has come and gone and I can honestly say this year I did not overdose on chocolate. Far from it. Instead I filled my weekend away at the farm with walking and fresh air. Oh, and editing. It was great.
We decided, with this monster storm looming, to come back to town early. avoiding the caravan/campertrailer exodus that always follows a big storm. Good decision, as it was a cracker of a storm. Hope you had a great Easter. I love to know what my characters listen to, to know a bit more about who they are and how they think. But that only works if I listen to different sorts of music as well. In Home for Christmas Layla was sad about the demise of the Rogue Traders and Tate was listening to Good Charlotte and while I edited I had those bands on repeat.
So to kickstart some creativity, here's the last albums I downloaded:
Reading:
Watching:
Listening to:
Writing:
Doing outside of writing:
So, that's me in a nutshell right now. What are you up to?
As much as I'd love to, it's unlikely I'll ever travel in space.
I'm editing a futuristic at the moment, so I'm surrounding myself with space - watching documentaries, saturating my twitter feed and watching the night sky. Here's a few of my favourite Twitter "space" hangouts:
Then there are the apps - satellite trackers, space station trackers, sky charts. Hubby has these on his phone. We have a no phone rule for walking/park visits, but if we think the International Space Station is coming past, the phone comes. More often than not we see satellites - we're yet to lay eyes on the ISS. What do you love about Space? We're in the middle of a heatwave in sunny Queensland, and while I've seen worse, this one just seems to be going on forever. Most nights, the storms scout around Brisbane and we miss out on the cooling rain. The humidity is the killer. Right now, its 85% humidity and 32 degrees inside. I've ditched the office and have set up shop in the dining room, between two sliding doors. Hopefully, we'll get some breeze.
This morning I went down to our local produce store and this guy (above) was in the garden section where the sprinklers had been running. The photo doesn't do him justice - he was at least two feet long and had blocked the path. I went round the other way. Writing wise, I'm editing the parked futuristic (working title Man and Wife) and so far that involves a rewrite of the first 3 chapters. Already, I can see its much more immediate, even if I did have to kill a few darlings along the way. Wish me luck... Hello from the editing cave!
After a bit of a break away from my futuristic manuscript I'm back editing it again. The problem with this manuscript - the futuristic readers say too much romance, the romance readers say not enough romance, too much world building. Add in some comments about backstory and introspection and my self-diagnosis becomes "This is one red hot mess". So what to do? The characters are great, the plot works - all I need to do is try to get the balance right and then this baby can go out into the real wide world. The plan is to keep working on this until the end of April and then reassess where I am up to. Wish me luck. |
Fiona Greene AuthorWhen you set out on a journey and night falls, that's when you will discover the stars." Archives
November 2022
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