Straya Day

Forty years ago today, my parents said their vows and were married. They got married on Australia Day – “so that your father will never forget our anniversary.”

So a big shout out to Mum and Dad, for putting up with each other for so long!

It has been 2020 for 26 days now. In that time, we have had raging bushfires, flooding in some parts of Aus, a downed C130-J, a virus outbreak, an erupting volcano in the Philippines, and an earthquake in Turkey. Trump is on the verge of being impeached, and so far no tour has been announced for Mumford and Sons to visit Australia (yet).

I feel like 2020 is the start of book 5 in a series, opening with loads of drama and action, readying the reader for the finale of the story. I don’t mean this in a dooms day way; I’m sure there will be a sequel and spin off stories 😉

Speaking of sequels and series, Book 2 – The Darkest Realm is coming along nicely. I’m almost at 18,500 words.

I’ve been a bit challenged in the first 5-6 chapters of book 2. I don’t like the term writer’s block, but it was a form of bloc nonetheless. It turns out I had not sufficiently planned some of the background stuff, which is usually what causes block in the first place.

I spent some time jotting down notes, and I came up with a whole new ‘old magic system’ that will explain the underlying function of how my cult operates without being unbelievable. It also answered questions on how my villain can control his cult in the first place, without using the same form of mancery as Nika and Freyne.

I have two major scenes that I can’t wait to write – I don’t write out of sequence though, so my reward for powering forward will be to write these scenes. I get excited just thinking about them!

My heroes are about to meet my trans woman character Yger, and I’m so excited about this. I have been asked by some people why I’m including a trans character, and my response is:
“Why wouldn’t I? They are people too; if I don’t represent them in literature, who will?”
There is so much nasty, negative stuff out there, I want to break that and show folks that trans people are people, and deserve as much respect as everyone else. The only way to normalise it is by talking about it.

And finally, just a reminder that I’ll be having a stall at the Sydney Gay Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day. If you are in Sydney, come along and say hi! I’ll have plenty of copies of books available to purchase, and I’ll happily sign them on request.

16th Feb 2020! Hopefully see you there!