Monday 29 February 2016

Today I Am...

Today I'm working on The Connelly Chronicles 2: Beautiful Goodbyes... I have 5 days to try and get it finished in... as on the 6th of March I need to work on the following:

Hidden Hearts 3: Going By The Book
Lancaster's way 3: Pre-loved
Moon Runners 2: I Won't let You Go


PS: Happy first day back at uni to my daughter, Emily S who is studying Law. May today be the start of a great year.

Sunday 28 February 2016

This Is How...

Any Nickelback fan would have sung this posts title followed by "You remind me, of what I really am" don't worry I did the exact same thing so you aren't alone. You're not a true fan unless you sing along.

This post is more than likely going to be a ramble as that is the mood I am in. I want to explain a little about what is going on inside my head... Starting with why I changed the 2016 writing list still will have the the same amount of output, but I decided to shelve any new series and concentrate on existing series. I marked the Novels all the rest are 40K Novellas.

FIREBORN

Hidden Hearts 3: Going By The Book
Moon Runners 2: I Won't Let You Go
Moon Runners 3: (Thinking of a new title)
The Diamond Rose 2: So Pretty On The Outside
The Diamond Rose 3: Sometimes It Hurts
The Freedomers 2: Craine's Everlasting Faith (MF)
The Freedomers 3: Drake's Broken Prophecy


MLRPRESS

Experimentals 3: Messages From The Dead
Intended Mates 2: Dancing To The Sounds Of Madness
Lancaster's Way 3: Pre-loved
Lancaster's Way 4: Riding Fences
Lancaster's Way 5: A Stuart Family Christmas (Ends Series)
Sons Of Evenmore 3: Fear The Scarlet Moon
The Lines Of Marsden 4: The Trail Of Red Roses (90/100K)
The Lines Of Marsden 4.5: On the 12th Day (Asher's Coven)
Toowoomba Boys 4: Securing The Heart
Toowoomba Boys 5: Bending The Law

PRIDE

The Connelly Chronicles 2: Beautiful Goodbyes (90/100K)
The Connelly Chronicles 3: Because Of You (90/100K)
Wardens Of The Guild 2: All That Shimmers
Wardens Of The Guild 3: Heart Strings
Wardens Of The Guild 4: Gilded Cages (Possibly Ends Series)

Friday 26 February 2016

Holy Guacamole...

**RANT ON** I think I should seriously consider taking up drinking... that's how shitty my life is going right now... actually it's not even shitty... it's more I have so much to do and no time to do it in... I seem to be run off my feet and getting nowhere. This has been my day thus far... Centrelink needs a copy of my mother's marriage certificate (she got married in 1953)... because she is married in another state I have to apply on line... they will only accept certain size file, but the info they want is bigger than the size allowable. So Centrelink tells me, instead of a MC to go and get my mum (who is 84) an 18+ card (photo Id) so I had to drive two towns over to the City of Ipswich's Queensland Transport Department and apply for the Id... they won't do the Id without a copy of her marriage certificate... it's a no win situation. **RANT OVER**

I just filled in the BIF for Wardens of the Guild 1: The Real You... I'll let you know when I actually sign the contract with Pride.

I'm also doing Galley Proof on The Freedomers 1: Zephania's Chance... for Fireborn.

Wednesday 24 February 2016

So Much To Do & No Fricken Time.

I've been so busy for the last two months that I haven't had time to get hardly any writing done... I've been dealing with Accountants, Tax Office, Doctors, High School, University, and Centrelink... I haven't even had time to scratch myself.

I've just heard that Wardens Of The Guild 1: The Real You is going to be offered a contract by Pride Publishing... I'm filling in the BIF as we speak, and will send back to the awesome Faith BB tomorrow. I will finish and submit The Connelly Chronicles 2: Beautiful Goodbyes by March 5th.

I've also just completed EIC edits on The Freedomers 1: Zephania's Chance and sent them back to the amazing Kathy K at Fireborn Publishing.

I think we are will be up to Galley Proof on Intended Mates 1: Lay Your Body Down next... The wonderful Christie N will be sure to let me know what's going on.

Wednesday 10 February 2016

My Guest ~ R.A. Padmos

The Book Shop

Release Date: 9th February
Publisher: Totally Bound


Blurb
Even I, who had resisted kicking and screaming, had to admit defeat. Why would love be impressed by the protests of a simple bookseller?

Jakoba has had enough. It is 1999 and she looks back on her life that began at the start of the century. Her arrival was unexpected, but joyfully welcomed, by her middle-aged parents. In a time where a middle-class girl has one destiny, namely to become a wife and mother, Jakoba is allowed to start working at a bookshop. Books become one of the loves of her life. Later she will inherit the shop.

She values friendship, but romance has no meaning for her. She values her independence too much and knows all too well what price women pay for being married.

It is German army photographer Armin who will change the course of her life. Jakoba is forty when she meets him. Armin is almost thirty, and Germany has occupied Holland. It does not matter. For him, she’s the one, and despite her hesitation both because of the war and because she can’t understand what this handsome man sees in her—a plain woman—she has to admit her feelings for him.

Such love has consequences for both of them that will reach far beyond the war and in ways Jakoba could never have imagined.


Publisher's Note: This book has previously been published elsewhere. It has been re-edited for re-release with Totally Bound Publishing.

Lost in translation?
The Bookshop is originally a Dutch language novella taking place in Holland in the twentieth century, and during the translation into English, I started to wonder if non-Dutch readers would actually enjoy the story. Or if they would even be able to relate to the main character, Jakoba, a bookseller who has quite a unique outlook on life. She’s so quiet that you might wonder if she’s really there, but she also has a presence that can’t be denied. She’s a good little girl who still goes her own way. She’s an introvert, but with an eclectic circle of friends. She’s the resistant fighter (but don’t call her that) who accepts the love of a German propaganda photographer because she refuses to lie to herself or to him in the name of politics.      

I believe that reading a story is like visiting a foreign country that can’t be travelled in any other way. You are tourist into the mind of the writer, but just as much in that of your own. A book is always the result of the both writer and reader. A writer can only try to get the message across, but it is the reader who has the power of interpretation. Both bring their own background, knowledge and personal taste to the table. And whatever the result, we writers and readers will always go back for more.

What are your thoughts?

Excerpt
  We walked through the dunes. Thanks to the photographer’s job, we had access to an area where otherwise I would have been chased away. He courteously offered me his arm, but I refused. I shivered. “It will be winter soon.”

  “Thank you for walking with me.” When the situation asked for it, we had spoken with each other during the past weeks, but a polite distance remained.


  I stopped walking, my hands deep in the pockets of my coat. I wasn’t sure what to say, but thought I had to say something. Once again, I looked at his boots, uniform and cap, but avoided his gaze. I didn’t have to look him in the face to imagine his eyes. They were gentle brown eyes in a face that could be described as attractive by any standard. He had gorgeous hands, a perfect mixture of strength and elegance. I could have fallen in love with him for his hands alone. I wanted to catch him doing anything that would make him unsympathetic in my eyes, so I could tell him that any form of contact between us would be out of the question. I smiled at my own thoughts. Human, all too human. 

About R.A.
In no particular order: woman, writer, in a relationship with my wife since 1981 (though we had to wait until 2001 until we could actually get married), mother of two grown sons, owner of cats (I can pretend, can’t I?), reader and a lot more.

I write in different genres under different names. I’m also S.Dora for my M/M erotica and Ella Laurance for my M/F erotica.

Find R.A. Here

Monday 8 February 2016

Updates On My Life...

Why is it, that it never rains unless it pours? Other than the huge-arse tax bill I got, I had to go to the dentist and get checked out. I thought I had lost a filling, lucky for me everything was all good, just a little calcium buildup. Though, the dentist told me I had great teeth. So instead of costing me an arm and a leg, it was just a hand... LOL. So I'm all good until my next checkup in six month to a year.

I can tell you that I'm sick to death of being stressed out. though according to my accountants this will be my last stressful year (mind you he told me the same thing last year). I've been told I don't earn enough through writing to pay taxes... which works for me.

My arm is a little better from when my son and I got it squashed between the industrial compressor and the shed wall (I did some damage to the muscles in my right upper arm -- I'm on painkillers for said injury)... On a good note I'm finally over my bronchitis... there is only the residual itchy throat I always get that follows. 

I'll give you an update on my life in a couple of days time. Hopefully by then I will have good news. I almost forgot. I have a tentative release date for Intended mates 1: Lay Your Body Down May 13th.

Friday 5 February 2016

I Have Been Slack & This Is Why...

I'm not sure if you all know, but February 2nd was my 47th birthday

I got a gift...

This was not a gift I wanted...

This is what I got: $100,000.00 tax bill... I'm not sure I'm over the shock of it yet. This is all because when my husband moved to New Zealand for work he got a dividend from our Australian business (construction company) and it put us in the next income tax bracket... hence the fricken huge bill.

On a good note they tell me the taxes I do in 2016 I won't have to pay anything as my Husband will have everything done in NZ. So if you don't hear from me for the next little bit. I'll be dealing with the ATO and trying to scrape together as much as I can to pay this damn bill.

In other news... Yes I'm still working on The Connelly Chronicles 2: Beautiful Goodbyes... I hope to have it finished by the end of next week. I have been doing edits on Intended Mates 1: Lay Your Body Down (which I've just signed a contract for)... Also I have been doing edits on The Freedomers 1: Zephania's Chance... So I haven't been completely slacking off and freaking out. I'm still waiting to hear back about Wardens Of The Guild 1: The Real You...