Hooray for annual leave!

I’ve been counting down the days til I’m on annual leave, and finally that day has come! Work has been busy with post-back to school cleaning, product launches and maintenance, so I have been looking forward to this break.

Obviously there is a lot of talk about that “bug in the air”, so I don’t want to talk about THAT. I feel like that’s all we are hearing about at the moment on TV, Facebook and Twitter, so I thought I would just ramble on about some positive things 🙂

So, what have I been up to?

I’ve become fantastic at procrastinating when it comes to writing. I think because I’ve been so run down at work, I’ve been turning to the games on my phone as a distraction, which means I haven’t been as focused. Uni has also started, which I’m a little behind in. I’ll catch up over the next 10 days I’m sure.

I’ve been trying to get a little bit more active outside of work, and have switched my diet to be a little bit healthier. Therefore, the fave human and I have been going for a walk to the wetlands at the end of our street (he is a wildlife photographer). Now, keep in mind, this IS Australia, so there are creatures that try to kill us on a daily basis!

This little guy (little as in 1.5 – 1.75 meters / 5.75 feet) is an Eastern brown snake, one of the deadliest in Aus. As we were walking towards home, we watched as a cyclist rode past us, then screeched to a halt just up the track. Mr Snakey casually slid across the path and disappeared into the grass as though it was slurped up like a noodle.

We also checked in on our friend, a black shouldered kite who hunts in this area; it was hunting time so we got to watch him do his thing. The local swamp harrier, dubbed Swampy, also paid us a visit. We get to see so much wildlife in this tiny escape from the sprawling metropolis known as Sydney.

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Yabbie Dabbie Doo started behaving a little off the past few days, and had stopped eating. I noticed that his tail had separated from his torso, which means that he’s due to shed. Sure enough, I got home yesterday to find that he has shed his exoskeleton! He is extra aggressive and back to his territorial self.

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I am still writing chapter 6 of The Darkest Realm, book 2 of the Miscreant. I’ve been doing a lot of reflection on the terrain for Lorendia, as my heros travel from Loren Point to Sepheren. I have based this terrain on country Victoria, Australia. In my world, this area is very hot and leads to a dessert, so I felt that this would be appropriate.

This is the country I grew up in. Hard ground strewn with rocks and dried golden grass; the land is occasionally accented with a random box or iron bark tree, and ancient bone dry creek beds that flow once every 10-20 years after a heavy downpour. It is a harsh and unforgiving land, but those of us who grow up there, learn to respect the land and nature.

On the rare chance that I get to go back and visit, I feel like I become one with my home again, and I can understand why Indigenous people are so connected to their land. Australia is a beautiful country.

Here is a sneak peek at the map for Lorrendia:

I will aim to do another post towards the end of my week and a half off and share what I got up to. I hope I can get some writing done, and finally get this book written. Thanks for your patience xox.