Sunday 31 August 2014

Toowoomba Boys

Today I'd like to talk about the Toowoomba Boys. This bunch of character's don't live that far away from my home.

Book 1: Angels On Top we met Marlow and Angelo. They had to find their way from friends to lovers with interfering family and a stalker thrown in. This was supposed to be a book that had no follow on story line. I guess that didn't work out to well for me.

I really saw something in Marlow that called me to write more about him and his friends, even if he wasn't going to be the main character for future books in the series.

Book 2: Hunting For Clay followed and this time Marlow's cousin Hunter and his one time stalker Clay became the hot new couple in the neighbourhood. 

Even though there is the drama of the whole family reuniting situation I wanted this story to be fun so I set up the whole treasure hunt angle of it. 

I also wanted there to be an element of work and so we got to see some of Hunter's job and what it all entailed... This also allowed us to meet new characters as well.

I never meant for this book to end with the cliff hanger that it did. Nor did I mean to wait so long between books to find out what happened and how the situation resolved itself.

Book 3: Dancing With Demons is the next and most recent to be published. We finally get to find out what the hell happened to Damon, and how help comes from the most unlikeliest of people Graham.

There's just something about the whole misunderstood bad-guy that called to me on this one.

(1) I'm not sure where the rest of the series is going.... suggestions anyone?
(2) I'm not even sure who the story will be about: Arthur & Cam... or... AJ & Jayden.

If you have any thoughts on this storyline feel free to drop me a comment. I'll take everything into consideration.

Friday 29 August 2014

Out Today ~ Family Connections...


BLURB:
Ray and Viv realise love isn’t always what they expect it to be, but learning to deal with the road ahead can be worth the heartache.

Thrown into circumstances beyond their imaginations, Ray Connelly and Christopher ‘Viv’ Vivvens must step beyond their personal lifestyles to survive the future. What started out as a small white lie about being boyfriends soon becomes more than they bargained for, especially when family and friends decide to interfere in their lives. However, when tragedy strikes, Ray and Viv must step up and become parents, too. Along the way, they welcome nine children of varying ages, but there is plenty of love to go around.

Ray and Viv realise love isn’t always what they expect. Sometimes it’s downright hard. They also learn that dealing with life’s obstacles can be worth the heartache. In doing so, the couple discover how strong they are together.

When everything is running smoothly, an ex comes along to ruin their happily ever after. They must fight their past demons to make their future even better. Together they are family in the greatest sense, but do Ray and Viv have what it takes to beat the odds this time? 

Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of dubious consent. It is best read in sequence as part of a series.

Publisher's Note: This book was previously released by another publisher. It has been revised and re-edited for release with Totally Bound Publishing.

The Lines Of Marsden

Okay, yesterday I told you a bit about what's going on with The Gaean Prophecies... So I've decided to do the same with all my currents WIPS both in series and in singles.

Today is all about The Lines Of Marsden... I've been working on #3: You Make Me Die In Pieces... I'm having a bit of a brain fart moment on this one as I have to figure out how to bring/give Doyle back his memories.

The guys are back on Australian soil, but nothing is running as smoothly as Michael wishes it would. We have all the old characters present as well as getting introduced to some new people who'll become very important in later books... so keep you eye on Aidan Newell as he is one of those guys.

Gypsy is just coming into her new status as a werewolf, though she is still totally pissed at Maffa for converting her. She is still as bossy as ever, but I wouldn't have her any other way. Benj  & Christian are still rediscovering each other while trying to work out the whole one soul thing going on between Michael and Christian.

The big evil is still Venetia, though this time around she has help, she wants Christian's powers and doesn't care who she has to take out to get what she wants. Michael is never going to let that happen -- So Michael finds himself having to choose which is more important (1) Finding a cure for Doyle's memory loss... or... (2) Stopping Venetia before she kills Christian.

It doesn't help that Venetia has people on the inside of the pack/coven willing to do whatever it takes to help her succeed in her plans. Between the pack and the coven they have to work together as a stronger unit if they have a hope in hell of finding the traitors and taking Venetia down before she slips through their fingers again.

So now you can see where my head is at with this storyline. Even though I've told you all of this when it comes to actually writing it all up I might change the whole damn thing... Feel free to send me any suggestions if you think they'll work.

Thursday 28 August 2014

The Gaean Prophecies.

This model: Tyson Ballou -- is how I envision the character Grayson Gellespie to look like in The Gaean Prophecies.

I thought I'd talk to you a bit about what's going on with this series since the demise of Silver Publishing. Well the truth is I submitted it to Wayward Ink Press and got some interesting feedback that gave me a lot to think about. 

Here's a basis of what I got back, and what I'm thinking on for these three major points:

  1. The story seemed rushed -- This I totally agree with, seeing as I wrote it when I was 12 I can now look back on it and say I can do so much better. This is something I should've done before I ever submitted it anywhere.
  2. The fight scene's are too short and not enough conflict -- Again I'm going to admit writing fight scenes is not my forte. Though after talking to Lily V, I now know they're willing to work with me on this and teach me to write better conflict/fight scenes.
  3. There is too much going on -- This I totally see. Instead of giving everyone their happily ever after in the first book I'm now open to tearing the whole thing down and rebuilding the story so that each couple gets their own story... This may mean that the trilogy turns into a longer running series (still thinking on that one).
I must admit that I totally love this story, because in reality it was my first ever attempt at writing. I'm glad I'm now getting a do over that'll allow me to enhance the story line for you all to read. I hope the basis of the series doesn't change too radically. If it does I want to apologise upfront; so that you know I'm only changing things to make the story better. I'll give you all updates as I know them myself.

Tuesday 26 August 2014

This Week I Am...

I'm still sick and feeling like utter crap, but I feel healthier today than I did yesterday if that makes sense. Until I'm completely better I will probably be hit and miss here on my blog and for that I truly apologise. In between bouts of trying not to cough up a lung or two, I thought I'd play catch up and let you know what's going on. The list isn't very long, but it's basically what I've been up to for the last coupe of weeks.

So here goes:

1: Still in talks with Lily V from Wayward Ink Press about The Gaean Prophecies 1: Admetus Gaea.
2: Still getting stuff together to submit to Fireborn Publishing... Hoping to hear back from them soon.
3: Still working on the secret project (yes the one where I don't know if it's secret or not) for MLRPress.
4: Trying to track down all my hand written notes on my different stories and put them into the right folders.
5: Still in talks with Bronwyn Heeley about The Hunted.

Also:

6: Been working on A Moon-Runner Story: Carlo's Christmas Wish (Expanding for re release).
7: Been working on The Diamond Rose 1: Undiscovered Hearts.
8: Been working on Masters Of Time 1: Shadows On The Heart (Expanding for re release).
9: Been working on Out Of The Zone 1: Hidden In Plain Sight.
10: Been working on The Lines Of Marsden 3: You Make Me Die In Pieces.

Monday 25 August 2014

SENTINELS OF VARNUSE 1: When The Walls Come Tumbling Down #21

#21.
Dawn was fast approaching and Brayden feared what was coming their way. He knew Tondran was a man with an evil so pure in his heart that he would allow nothing and no one stand in his way to get what he wanted. It had taken him since the day he’d first been kidnapped to this very moment to work out why Tondran seemed so familiar to him.

“Father?” Brayden patted his father’s face gently. “Father, I need to ask you something important.”

His father’s eyes slowly opened as he blinked up at him. Brayden could tell his father was filled with sorrow and pain. “Father, is Tondran, Ormand’s father?”

“Yes,” His father rasped out. “Ormand is Tondran’s son.”

Brayden nodded. His thoughts scrambled as he tried to make sense of everything—it seems the apple truly didn’t fall far from the tree. Now so many of the things Ormand had done to him throughout the years was beginning to make some kind of sense. “Father, did…” his words trailed off as the cell door opened and their guard Josep stepped in.

“It would seem fate is smiling down upon you today. Tondran has been called away and he has postponed the king’s death until his return. I’ll let nothing happen to you between now and then.” He bowed in Brayden’s direction.

“Do you know when he’ll be back?” Brayden asked. He tried to put as much bravery into his words as possible, even though his insides quaked. He needed to know exactly how much time he had to figure out a plan of escape for both him and his father.

“At this stage Tondran’s return is undetermined.” A smile appeared on Josep’s face. “It seems there’s a small group of people in town asking questions about you. Tondran has personally gone out to see if it’s true. Once he knows for sure he will be back.”

“Quin!” Brayden blurted out. Both excitement and fear flooded him as he thought of his husband being so close. How he’d missed the man.

Josep nodded, “It seems you were right all along—your husband really did come for you. Not that it matters much because from what I’ve heard in the tunnels word is he’s greatly outnumbered.”

“Tondran is setting a trap, isn’t he?” Brayden gently stroked his father’s arm. He needed some sort of touch stone to keep him sane. Brayden knew he needed to get word to Quin, but how? “Quinlan needs to be warned.”

“Yes, at least that’s what I’ve heard. And yes, the King needs to know what he’s walking into.” Josep walked over and knelt beside Brayden and his father as he spoke. Handing him a piece of paper and a pen he continued. “I may not succeed in getting to him, but I need you to write something on here for King Quinlan so he knows I’ve come to him in regards to you. If I could take the two of you out of here with me I would, but this place is still too well guarded. I’m leaving someone I trust to keep you safe while I’m gone. His name is Lucas… he’s my… he’ll look after you, I promise.”

Brayden grabbed the paper and pen and hastily scribbled a note to his husband. He poured out all his love and fear in those few short paragraphs, and then he wrote the one thing to let Quinlan know it was from him. Folding the paper he handed it back to Josep.

“Go in peace. May the fates keep you safe upon your journey.” Brayden squeezed Josep’s hand and watched him leave. Hopefully Quinlan wouldn’t kill the man on sight—hopefully his husband would take the time listen to what Josep had to say.

**~*~**

“I’m telling you they know we’re coming,” Talon threw his hands in the air as he ranted. “Somehow they know where we are. We have to get out of here—not leave, just move somewhere else. Somewhere they won’t expect us to be.”

Quinlan was frustrated as hell at this turn of events. He was so close to getting Brayden back, and this little set back was beginning to piss him off. Quinlan knew Brayden was somewhere in this town. For the pure fact his double heart beat was almost now completely in sync. He’d never even truly noticed he’d had two heart beats until after Brayden was taken from him. Strangely he liked knowing the out of sync beat meant something had happened to Brayden. The truth was it was like his early warning signal, and if he reacted fast enough he could stop events from happening before Brayden was forced from the castle again.

“Where do you think we should go? I agree to move as long as you all remember one thing. I’m not going home until my husband is once more safe in my arms. I won’t leave here without Brayden.” Quinlan growled at the eleven men and one woman that surrounded him. They all needed to know his thoughts because no one was going to change his mind.

“No one expects you to Quin,” Ingrid clamped a hand on his shoulder. “None of us want to leave without the return of our loved ones.”

The movement of her fingers against his collar bone were subtle but Quin knew exactly what she was saying. Someone was watching them. The sentinels with them also had their eyes glued to Ingrid’s fingers and the message they told. With very little movement everyone went on alert. Hands slowly reaching for weapons as they listened for what was out there.

**~*~**

Josep stood further back in the shadows and watched the group of people standing just a few feet away from him. He knew somewhere else in the dark he had three other people watching this group, and they all were in the same situation he was in—under Tondran’s thumb, with no means of escape. That was until Brayden had come into their lives. Each of these three men present here, and the few who remained on alert helping Lucas keep Brayden safe had sworn on their lives to serve the old ones. Since King Thayer had been captured they had been activated, and now it was their now sworn duty to help this group rescue the two men being held captive.

Taking a deep breath he stepped out of the shadows and spoke.

“I have a message for King Quinlan,” he held his hands out in front of him and slowly turned showing he wore no weapons. “Consort Brayden has written a note, so you can see I tell no lies.” He took a step towards them. “The note is in my breast pocket. If one of you could come and get it I would be grateful. I don’t wish to make any sudden moves that might cause me to end up dead.”

**~*~**

Quinlan strode over and relieved the man of his note, opening it he began to read.

My love, if you are reading this now you know I’m still alive and that the babe is okay. I cannot say the same for my Father. He’s been beaten to within an inch of his life. The man that gives you this note is called Josep MacLean… he’s a good man who has been kind to me. He’s come to tell you of a trap being set for you my love. It turns out Tondran who is the father of Ormand, has decided he’s going to be my new mate. Father says you cannot allow this to happen. If you die then I do as well. So stay safe my love, because I need you still. Both the babe and I need you in our lives.

I felt Xavier kick again today. I know our son is also fighting to get back to you. I hate it here. I want to come home to you and our sons. Please let Josep help you. I think when we leave this place we may have a few more people going with us than who you came with.

I love you so much… your husband… Bray.
With that one mention of his unborn son’s name relief flooded him when Quinlan knew for certain Josep was telling the truth.

“Take me to my husband.”

Wednesday 20 August 2014

Books That Have Inspired Me To Be A Writer

David Eddings wrote one of the best characters I have ever read: Sparhawk. I've always wanted to be able to write someone who was so fricken awesome. I must admit this series is a constant re read for me (actually I love all of David's work). I loved how intricate the world was and how well it all seemed to seamlessly fit together. Hell, I even loved his badguy/girl characters. there was just something morally right about Sparhawk, even when he had to do something not quite legit he did it in a way that showed deep down the man was still the real thing...A man of honour...A man of worth.
In this book: Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley... I saw that women characters can be strong. Scarlett truly redeemed herself in this book in my eyes. Don't get me wrong I still love Margaret Mitchell's: Gone With The Wind (it will forever be a classic read). I just didn't really like Scarlet that much in Margaret's book. I loved how she went back to the homeland and became the head of the whole O'Hara family without even realising what she had done...If you haven't read it then I suggest you do... the book was way better than the mini series.

Paul Zindel's: The Pigman is one of the first authors I read where I actually wanted to sit there and read the book from the beginning when I had finished it. I read this book in high school and even though I wasn't that crash hot in English (lets face it I still suck at punctuation) I just loved this story. My favourite scene is where the two teenagers involved cook the dinner. To be honest I don't even think it was my class who was reading it. I think it was my nieces as my class was doing Shakespeare.


Diana Gabaldon's: Outlander series... sucked me in from the very first page. Seven books in with a spin off into the life of Lord John and I was hooked. I loved Jamie Fraser from the get-go. Then the other characters started becoming real to me... Murtagh, Young Ian, Fergus, Jenny and so forth. This is a writer who made me want to go and explore all the places mentioned in her books. I have a list of things I need to see when I finally get to Scotland. I loved the way the characters all were special in their own ways and could have happily read many spin offs about each and every one of them.

Dean Koontz is one of the best horror writers for me. I can honestly say this man made me afraid of the dark (it's funny how I can read a scary book, but I can't bring myself to watch a scary movie). There are so many great books by this man that I can't name them all. I'm slowly rebuilding up my collection of his. If I can have an addiction to reading then in my teenage years Dean was mine. I must admit I would have love to have been able to write a character like Odd Thomas. I just loved the way Odd's mind worked.

In this series The Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine... I was fascinated by the ruling/protection system they had in place. Mind you I was drawn to the weird characters:- Mernin is one of my favourites... I loved the fact that he was so smart he was crazy... or maybe that was just the sickness effecting him. I also thought it was great how even the good guys could come off as a little less than perfect. To me that alone gave this series another depth. The fact that the secondary character's were jus as important as the main ones was an added bonus as well.

Tuesday 19 August 2014

Beautiful According To Me ~ 6 Character Inspirational Pictures


Jonathan Rhys Meyers will always be one of the most beautiful people to me... Whenever I see a picture of him or see him on TV/Internet I immediately want to start writing on the next instalment of The Lines Of Marsden. He is, who when I first saw him knew right off the bat he was both my Michael and my Benj Marsden.

Weirdly he is also my Ray Connelly from The Connelly Chronicles.






I have no clue who this guy is, but when I was looking for character imagery for The Gaean Prophecies... this is how I pictured Lord Jondalar Arandad he is one of the main characters and Rules over Meadow Run/ Gustave Castle... he is one of the leaders of the Elven Kind.







A friend sent me this picture of these two models and they soon became my twins Jordan & Jaxx Adams who belong in Pack Matters but also make cameos in both Watson Falls & Sons Of Evenmore.








This guy is who inspired my character Chase Williams from Lancaster's Way 2: A Different Way Of Seeing. There's just something about him that called to me. I had this picture picked out before I even had Riley & Noah picked out for the first book.








Saw this guy somewhere and he became my character Linc O'Hare from the series Experimentals... he's one of my main characters in book 2: Running Into Zero Tolerance. At the moment he's on hold until I can get two other projects from under my belt.






I saw this face ( It was the eyes that sucked me in) and instantly knew I had found my Carlo Bruenelli  from A Moon-Runner Story: Carlo's Christmas Wish (originally titled A Moon-Runner Christmas). But am currently expanding for re release.

Monday 18 August 2014

I'm Sick & Other News...

4 days I have been away due to this stupid flu kicking my arse... I wish I could stop coughing long enough to breathe without it hurting.

I hate being sick, but who doesn't? I hate taking the medication that I need to make me better. I tell you my mouth is sore from sucking on soothers and throat numbing lozenges. I swear to God if I never see another tissue again it will be too soon.

My brain feels like it's been dislodged from all the sneezing, and at one stage my family thought I'd broken my ribs, but lucky for me it was just pulled muscles from coughing. Hurts like hell though.

But onto OTHER NEWS Okay, I have no clue what the other news is so I'm going to ramble for a while... after 4 days away I had 2000 emails waiting for me to go through... and out of that 2000 I probably only needed about 20 or so.

OMG!!! it is so windy here that the door of my hubs shed blew open and buckled a fraction, so I can't close the damn thing (it's fricken huge - so tall). The next door neighbour helped me finally push it closed and try and wedge it shut. Emily has to come home from work and try and ratchet/tie it shut...  In the end after Em and I tied it shut we had to park one of the work trucks in front of it as I don't think I tie job is gonna hold.

That in essence is my drama filled day... now I'm off to do some writing on my super secret project for MLR (yeah, the one that I don't know if this is a secret or not).  I will give you more details when I find out what's the go... just give me a week or so to get over my flu.

Wednesday 13 August 2014

Right Now & Coming Up...

Well that damn irritating cough seems to be well on its way to turning into the flu... I feel like crap, and we all know that when I feel this way I have a tendency to ramble... a lot.

But on the upside... we also know that being sick is when I'll get a bunch of new story ideas.

Right now... I'm working on: A Moon-Runner Story: Carlo's Christmas Wish. Which I have to admit that even though it basically follows the same story line as the original (A Moon-Runner Christmas) there are some big changes and a whole lot of added wordage happening. I'm also working on The Diamond Rose 1: Undiscovered Hearts... Hoping to have both finished over the next couple of weeks.

Co-authoring... Bronwyn Heeley and I are still hashing out the basis of The Hunted... we are having weekly meetings until we are satisfied that we both know what the hell is going on. As soon as we have something concrete we may let you in on what's happening.

Also in talks with some fellow MLR authors about a new secret project. Well at least I think it's a secret. I'll let you know more on that one when I'm able. I won't really talk about it until I get the go ahead.

Tuesday 12 August 2014

In No Particular Order: 12 Of My Favourite Books & Characters

These are some of my favourite books/series to reread numerous times.
 So I thought I would share their covers with you all.





Love it when a book can move me to tears. Noah Anderson is one of the best characters.








Len Parker - do I have to say any more.









Rory Delaplaines stole my heart in the first chapter. Then Ran Yamane just made the story that much better.







Lost Shifters: Too many to say which, but Shane is my favourite character.











Who doesn't love Brier Blackstone... All I'm saying is: "I found a bug."




All the characters in this book call to me in different ways. Cole Winters just has a way of pulling them all together.








Isaac Dragos - At first I hated him and then I loved him... So awesome when that happens.








Julian Hallowell... My husband banned me from ever reading this book in bed.







Piper (Charles Sylvester Piper, III): Jambi, I'm still waiting in book two.









Rand Holloway... I don't know why I love him so much - I just know that I do.








Kaden James... he just breaks my heart. I just want to hug him all better.








Julio Herendez & Paine Addison just work so well together... Awesome story.

Friday 8 August 2014

OUT NOW ~ Dancing With Demons (Toowoomba Boys 3)


BLURB:
When opposites attract the result can be life changing.

Graham Davenport is trying to better his life. His whole world crashes the day he’s told Damon's missing, and he’s the main suspect—could life get any worse?

Damon Malone was kidnapped, he has no clue why, and his captor isn’t talking. Beaten and bruised he waits to be rescued—fearing he might die.

Working together with detectives, Graham realises there’s more to the story than a simple kidnapping. Will they find the answers in time or will everything be too late? Graham changes his whole life to help Damon fight his demons—in the process will he conquer his own?

Things To Ponder...

Why is it - Just when you finally think you have everything under control you realise how mistaken you are?

Why is it - When you have your new writing schedule written up something comes along to screw it up? I should add that it was totally my fault because  I forgot something I was meant to do.

Why is it - When you have so many books to catch up on for series you are writing new story ideas seem to be screaming to be heard?

Why is it - Winter seems to keep coming back just to annoy the hell out of me? I swear my fingers feel like icicles today.

Why is it - When you desperately need that sip of coffee you find your cup is empty?

Thursday 7 August 2014

Chilly Weather & Writing Thoughts

It would seem that winter has decided to make another reappearance in my little piece of the world. Not that I'm complaining as I love the cooler weather. But, it turns my cats into great big sooks who need the heater in the office turned on and their chairs pushed up as close as can be... Droogie and Toby think they own the place.

I've had to change my writing schedule I now write from 8 am until 3pm... to fit in with the school timetable. Weekends are now solely family time (though, I've been doing that one for the last couple of months).

I'm still deciding what's to come next in my writing world. I'm actually waiting to see if a planned anthology with MLRPress goes ahead... if so than that will jump to the head of the line.

Mind you right now I need to finish:
1) The Diamond Rose 1: Undiscovered Hearts.
2) The Gaean Prophecies 1: Admetus Gaea.
3) ??? (no clue).

Wednesday 6 August 2014

I'm Back...

Even though I have only been absent for four days it seems like a life time ago that I was last here. But I'm finally back on track... I think. We'll find out in a few days whether I am or not...LOL.

What have I been up to? Well I spent the weekend getting Ethan settled in. Then Monday and Tuesday I was running around getting Ethan enrolled in high school and a new sim card so he can get in contact with his mum - only certain phone companies work where we live as we live in a bit of a dead spot.

Now I'm finally back in front of the computer, and I'll hopefully get some writing done. I'm not sure what I'm going to be working on just yet so I'll sort that out today.  I have a few ideas rattling around inside my head... some new -- some old... Though to be honest I'd prefer to wok on something that just needs finishing. Whenever I start on something new it takes me away from something I need to get done and subbed. And we all know what I'm like when I get sidetracked... so not good!