Hearts of Amberley: An Update

Hello, my dear readers!

I do hope you are all well in these strange times.

It's been a while since I've provided an update on where I'm at with book 3 in the Hearts of Amberley series. I assure you, this is far more frustrating for me than it is for you!

Progress on the third book has been hampered by a few things: the birth of my second child and the subsequent madness which ensued, various Covid lockdowns requiring full-time childcare and exhaustion, and of course just various life tasks and events which pop up along the way. It is still my hope that one day, I will have some "day-job" time to devote to writing, but at the moment that's not possible.

And so, book 3 has been limping along - always at the back of my mind, and more often lately, at the forefront and on my fingertips. It look a huge effort to get the headspace to finish plotting it out, but now that is done I am doggedly working through the draft, about two thirds of the way through. I hoped to have it done last year (or the one before lol) but come hell or high water it will be done this year.

I do have considerable uneasiness about writing a book about an established villain who has sinned so absolutely. But his story begged to be told, the WHY behind his actions nagging at my conscience. And the lady who would challenge him became a potent force in my imagination. As I have written, the tone of the book has changed somewhat, and I have changed the title from "Mr Barrington Meets His Match" to "Heart of a Gentleman". When you read the book, you'll see how fitting this is :) I hope with all my heart that you will find it a sensitive and satisfying read.

I am also looking at release the first two books in other formats - Hardcover and Large Print. I'd love your feedback if you like to read either of these formats.

I hope to be able to reveal the cover of "Heart of a Gentleman" before too long! Make sure you're signed up to my email newsletter or following me on Facebook for any updates.

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Forging Ahead

When I published my first book in October 2014, I never expected it would be such a long time before the second one was done. What happened? Life intervened. In the best possible way.

I met my husband shortly before book #1 came out. My life was filled with dates and dreaming. Soon I was planning our wedding and honeymoon, then we renovated our house and sold it, while designing and building another. While I was pregnant. Then, after the baby came (and we moved house), I entered the brain-fog known as motherhood. It wasn't until I went back to work after a year that I managed to get some sort of headspace back, and the energy to write again.

And now here I am, with the final draft of the next book done and with an editor, and my cover ready to go. I am about to ride this crazy roller coaster all over again. And I hope to do it again before too long!

The second book in the series I'm calling "Hearts of Amberley" is entitled GLOVED HEART. It follows the stories of two of the minor characters from the first book, THE VAGABOND VICAR. 

GLOVED HEART is now available for pre-order, and I've just revealed the cover which you can see below this book description. Now, to work on getting the word out there!

Can she ever trust again?

Amy Miller is struggling to come to terms with her new life as a mother, while being a reluctant guest in a rigid gentry household. A victim of abuse, she is determined to never trust a man again.

Henry Russell has loved Amy for as long as he can remember, but his family want nothing to do with her. A chance encounter with Amy rekindles a friendship which might save both of them.

The discovery of a secret which holds the key to Amy’s past will change them both forever, and jeopardise any chance they have for happiness. Can Henry show Amy that true love will give her everything she could ever need?

Mummy Brain – The Struggle is Real!

Sleepless. Overjoyed. Frustrated. Elated. Isolated, but no time for me.

The life of a new mother is relentless. So rewarding. So punishing. So brain-numbingly tedious but emotionally stressful. At the end of the day creativity is at an all-time low, and the struggle to get the rear end off the couch or do anything other on the laptop than peruse emails or social media is all but hopeless.

But I know I need to fuel the creative fire to feel alive again. To feel like me. I am a writer. And that means that occasionally, once in a while… I should actually create some words. Fictional words in extraordinary worlds which only live in my imagination, where stories dwell that only I can tell. It’s just even harder than ever to find the headspace, let alone the energy, to let the juices flow and feel the wonderful reward (as well as the agony) of creation. All my mental power is consumed by nap times and durations, creating ever changing menus, getting to activities on time and whether I'm doing white or colours washing. I can't even remember what I did this morning. Creating fake people from scratch is a little challenging.

My most productive period in the past was after 8:30pm, when I gave myself a deadline each night to turn off the TV/internet/whatever and just write something, even for half an hour. That would frequently turn into two hours or more once I was in flow. Now at 8:30 my husband and I tend to look at each other and drowsily debate what else we will do before going to bed.

You would think that being home all day would lead to more productivity, not less. But naptime is dominated by trying to catch up housework, life admin, attempting to connect with other humans and… maybe, personal hygiene. And given I may have been up for much of the night before, mustering the drive to be creative is challenging to say the least.

Now I am back at work, and needing to cram in mothering/wifing/lifing into even smaller slots. On the weekend my husband is so busy trying to be helpful, it’s very difficult to have him be solo-daddy for an hour or so, so I can get into my writing.

But I know I need to give myself the time and space to write. I need to make a routine, the same way I do for other essential parts of my life, now that we have more structure in our lives. I don’t have the answer yet. But I have the will. And I hope that is a good start.

How have other mothers got their mojo back? Please share your strategies for regaining this important part of becoming yourself again!

The Inane Ramblings of a Writer Who's Waiting

or, The Many Cool Things Starting with "Ch".

I'm doing quite a lot of waiting at the moment. Well, just mainly waiting to hear back on queries, partials and fulls, and waiting for the Christmas holidays. And my brain's gone a bill do-lally, unable to attend to any kind of sensible tasks. With that in mind...

So I was cooking dinner, and I had a little sneaky cheese snack ("cook's treat"). And I said to myself, "OMG I love cheese!". And then I thought, "and I really love chocolate." And it occurred to me: how many things, OK foods, I like that begin with the letters "ch".

So apart from the aforementioned...

Cheese

Image courtesy of Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

and chocolate....

Image courtesy of artur84 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There's chips - both this kind:

Image courtesy of Keerati / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

and this kind:

Image courtesy of artemisphoto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

And cheesecake:

Image courtesy of Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

And chicken!

Image courtesy of Apolonia / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Then after I'd finished eating my chicken, I was actually compelled to leaf through the dictionary to see what other "ch" treasures there are. Champagne, cherries, choux pastry.

And then non-food stuff: champion, chamber music, chandelier,chapter, character, chain reaction, charade, charisma, charity, chaise longue, chalet, chalice, chameleon, charming, chateau... need I go on?! (please stop, I hear you say). Those are just the "cha"s. I haven't even got to chivalry or chimpanzee. Oh yeah, and Christmas.

 

Image courtesy of digidreamgrafix / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Photokanok / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of m_bartosch / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It's a pretty cool way to start a word... not that I'm biased or anything ;-) But on that note, the dessert called a "charlotte" is pretty amazing.

So many wonderful things! And I was like, "I can't believe I've never thought of this before!" Like it was some kind of genius insight worth sharing. Sorry about that.

While we're procrastinating and thinking about yummy wonderful things, here's some candy for your ears AND eyes.

Cheers!

Spring Beauty

Just thought I'd pop in briefly to share a couple of photos I took in the garden today of some spring bulbs (tulips and fresias). It's so heartening to see these beauties popping up out of the ground as soon as the coldest part of the year is past. Spring seems to be the season of hope, does it not?

Sharing the Love

Thanks to Jen for passing the Kreativ Blogger Award on to me this week :-)

Apparently I need to pass the award onto 6 bloggers, and tell you ten things about myself. Ten! I don't think I can think of ten interesting things to say. Well, here goes...

Never again

1. I am the youngest of two daughters, my mother is the youngest of two daughters... and my grandmother is the youngest of two daughters.

2. I didn't venture overseas until I was twenty, and it was a full-on 100 day backpacking adventure through UK/Europe with my best friend.

3. I prefer potatoes over meat.

Totally crystals

4. Once I had a long-standing argument discussion with a friend over whether the sparkles in the ocean were more like diamonds or crystals.

5. I have naturally curly hair - that is, hair with random waves all over the place and a permanent halo of frizz. I've worn it straight for the last five years and it's been a revelation. Such freedom in being able to run your hands through your hair without them getting stuck!

Bella

6. I have owned two female ginger cats (most gingers are toms). They are/were very special girls.

7. I like spotting and identifying transporty stuff - like planes and cruise ships, and I love reading maps.

8. My grandparents were all Scottish, so I grew up with bagpipes and tartan in my blood.

Yum yum

9. I cook a mean spaghetti carbonara (no, it shouldn't be swimming in cream).

10. I like being in high places - like on mountains, up towers and look-out points... anywhere with a view. Maybe being vertically challenged has something to do with it. I hate the feeling of falling though.

And now for your bonus semi-interesting fact...

11. I believe I just may be the only person in the world with my (first and last) name.

I've also sort of been remiss in not passing on the Liebster award I got ages ago, because at the time I didn't have enough blogging friends to pass it on to. Thanks again to Loree for giving it to me, and congrats again for recently landing an agent!

Now to share the love for the Kreativ Blogger award...

1. Anne Gallagher
2. Glynis Smy
3. Lynda R.Young
4. Sierra Gardner
5. Jen Daiker
6. Susan Bergen

You all rock :-)

Seeing Beyond Satisfaction

It’s time to prune the roses again. Some of them have indeed lost all of their leaves, with no sign of new buds. A few plants, however, continue to defy the season. One in particular, a yellow rose named Serendipity, keeps reaching skyward with glossy leaves, big buds and bright blooms. It was the same last year: I felt guilty cutting the stems right back when it was still proudly putting on a show. It’s tempting to leave it alone; see how high it’ll grow. But I know that if I don’t trim it, I’m denying it the chance to grow vigorously next year. Left alone until the next season, the old wood’s growth would slow and become spindly, with perhaps half as many flowers. I’d get to keep this year’s shape, but lose the potential vibrancy of unknown beauty.

Here’s where the metaphor kicks in. Sometimes we keep living the same life because it looks pretty good on the outside. But maybe on the inside we’re turning into old wood. We get a bit too comfortable... we move past satisfied. Perhaps we once had a dream that was long since stifled. If we don’t stop to think about it, we assume everything’s okay. But maybe we’re not living up to our full potential. If we don’t step outside the box, we might never know who we’re truly meant to become.

It’s like they say: if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. It takes courage to chop off the dead wood and start again. If something new is nagging at you, don’t ignore it for fear of destroying a satisfactory pattern. Get out those pruning shears, then fertilise your ideas. It might take a while, but the chances are that they’ll bloom into something beautiful.

Downton Disappointment

I'm interrupting my semi-regularly scheduled programming to rant about the last episode of Downton Abbey, which screened in New Zealand last night. The penultimate episode was very enjoyable, promising so much for the finale. But it was so disappointing, it made me wonder if they found out they had a second season just before writing it... it seems like all they were doing was setting up the next set of plot arcs. The episode forgot important plot points, while throwing in incongruous twists for no good reason. My main quibbles were:

1. The next test for Mary and Matthew's relationship was supposed to be her confession. Would he still love her once he found out the truth about Mr Pamuk? The risk was all on her side, and there was never any doubt of him being a worthy recipient of her affections.

Instead the writers just forgot all about this, and Mary didn't even tell him. Instead they added a ridiculous pregnancy, which could cause Matthew to fall from his position as heir. It became all about whether Mary should risk her future material security by accepting him. I couldn't care less about that - of course he'd make enough money as a solicitor to support them if she loved him enough. The point was whether she could make herself vulnerable, and if he'd be accepting. I was crushed at the end when the writers just let the tension dissolve away, and the relationship with it.

2. It also seemed that Thomas was to be eliminated before the next season, but not with the justice he deserved. As the evidence mounted, his guilt was proven. But instead of being called to task by Lord Grantham, he was allowed to resign to assist with the war effort. Again another conflict just fizzled out. Why? (I will say that I never liked him and I'm glad he'll be gone, but no doubt another villain will take his place)

3. The plot with O'Brien was another failed device. If the pregnancy just served to end the M&M happily-ever-after, why have O'Brien behave so badly only to remove the barrier and suffer no consequences? Perhaps she will suffer the fallout in the next season, unless guilt is the only punishment. However like Thomas, it only seemed natural that some sort of comeuppance was due to her for her sins during this season.

4. The arc with Bates and Anna seemed to progress with Anna's discoveries about the past. But when presented with an opportunity for more revelation between them and a furthering of the relationship, Bates just says again, "I can't tell you," and Anna retreats as if this satisfies her. Where is the spirit she showed in the previous episode, when she protested her love? At least we get to see that Bates is actually interested, but will he ever fight for her, or at least explain why he won't? I thought he was a stronger character than that.

The sibling rivalry was well done; deliciously vile. And I like the hints of more to come between Sybil and Branson, but the plot about her liberal tendencies sort of evaporated too. No doubt outside events will have a larger part to play in season 2. I just hope the writers do the characters and dramatic tension justice. I could do with less scenes of Mary crying too. And here's hoping that Matthew will be back as he was really the only romantic hero!

A Second Summer

Thanks to Il Nina, we had a long, hot, humid summer. It was a relief when the nights became a little cooler in April. A cold snap shortly thereafter brought out winter coats and jumpers. However, over the last week or so, it's as if summer was only taking a break. It's back, and we're enjoying temperatures close to twenty degrees. I'm sitting here in my shorts, with all the door and windows of the house open, letting in the sunshine and warm breeze.

One effect of this unusual weather pattern is confused plants. Yesterday my husband pointed out a little daffodil in an eastern facing garden. I was quite alarmed. The poor thing obviously thought that our winter had come and gone, and it thinks we're on to Spring. I hope that all of our bulbs don't get the same idea. They'll only die off quickly when the real cold weather hits in a week or two. For now we can enjoy the surprise treat, but hope that the rest hold off for at least another three months to brighten our cold September.

Apart from enjoy the warmer temperatures, a bonus of the second summer is that the roses (among other flowers) continue to bloom. This one has a special place in my heart because of its name, Charlotte :-)

And the cats are pretty happy about being toasty.

If you follow me on Twitter you'll know about my big news this week - we're going to have a second winter as well, as we've booked flights to Europe next year. The flights on Malaysian were basically half price. We're somewhat anxious about how we'll afford everything else, but it's just too good an opportunity to pass up. We haven't had decent skiing since we went to Canada in 2007. Of course, we'll explore a bit as well. We're flying into Frankfurt and out of Rome, so we'll go through the Black Forest, Switzerland, the Italian Lakes and the interior of Italy. We'll visit the seaside town that my husband's great-grandfather emigrated from. I'm excited beyond words, and already my head is full of travel information and possible itineraries (this does mean that there hasn't been much writing going on). We have a good nine months to plan and save for what will be the longest (and best) holiday of our married lives so far. Come next March, this will be me!

Things Happen in Threes

Isn’t it odd how you could go through your life not being aware of a particular name, place, or thing and suddenly, within a short space of time, you are bombarded by it?

An example happened to me a little while ago: Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I was vaguely aware that Burbank is a suburb of Los Angeles (or a town? Not sure). The name of the place hasn’t been in consciousness at all. Then I was watching an episode of Chuck, and the General said, “It’s been great working with you in Burbank.” The name stuck in my head for a few minutes.

The next day I was catching up with Lonely Planet’s feed in my RSS reader and found myself reading an article on what not to do in Los Angeles. It recommended flying into Burbank airport instead of LAX.

Then I was driving home on my usual route, and when I looked up at a random road sign. It said, “Burbank Avenue”. I kid you not.

This happens to me all the time, as I’m sure it does you. Perhaps your friend buys a new car, and even though you’ve never heard of it before, now that type of car is all you seem to see. Or perhaps you’ve been looking for a particular out of print book for ages, and then all of a sudden you see it in three different shops.

What things have come in threes for you?

The Pleasure and Pain of a Life Well Lived

Today we dug compost through the vege patch (and by "we", I mean my husband), then we transplanted some baby strawberry plants and sowed our winter veges (both of us). Fingers crossed everything grows! Once that was done I went around dead-heading the roses, some of which are still going great guns even though we're officially well into autumn.

There's one particular rose that is a lot of work, because it's always covered in hundreds of blossoms. It's an old-fashioned "coral" rose, dark pink with only five petals on each flower. The profusion of blooms is lovely, but it means I have to spend a lot more time snipping off all the dead heads. And I need to do this to make more flowers come.

My brain drifted into thinking about how this is like life. If you'll indulge me...

The first way is that sometimes we need to cut things out of our lives before we can move forward. Perhaps we need to literally clear clutter out of our homes before we can take up a new hobby, make room for a child or downsize to a smaller house. Clearing physical space can also lift weight from our spirits, making it easier to move through life. Other times, we may need to prune bad influences from our lives, whether that is negative people, poor media choices or clinging to old habits... anything else which stops us from moving forward.

The second thing that occurred to me is that with much beauty comes much work, with much risk comes greater reward, and sometimes with much pleasure comes much pain. The bigger lives we lead, the more potential there is for hard times. If we choose to love, we may be hurt. Putting ourselves out there artistically comes with the inevitable stab of rejection. In order to be successful in business, you have to put in the hard yards. Some people live smaller lives, doing just enough to survive with what they're given. But I hope I have the courage to live larger, to work hard and love fully in the hope of a richer existence.

New Characters Over the Fence

As of last night we have new neighbours. We were saddened by the news that our old neighbours had decided to down-size: they were retired and therefore without noisy children or loud music... just a sports-mad and slightly-deaf husband who yelled at the TV all day. They were cat people and kept an eye on ours when we were away, and we occasionally traded home-grown vegetables over the fence.

The furtive glances at the new editions reveal they are possibly late forties, and so far seem to be child-free. They own a 1970's Jaguar. That might be all we have to go on until they are settled in enough to introduce themselves. It's kind of funny: now that my brain is permanently set to writer's mode, I find myself thinking about the new neighbours as if they are new characters that I need to discover. Except that in this case, they won't just reveal themselves in my mind. As we get more clues, we'll probably sketch together our own impressions... which might prove to be the total opposite of what they actually are! The forty year olds might be their children or parents for example.

It made me think of my characters, about what attributes I normally think of first, and how sometimes they reveal surprising things about themselves. Have you ever had a character do a 180 turn on you (that you didn't expect) or do they generally behave themselves?

Anyway, it's weird to think that we won't see our old neighbours ever again, after seeing them nearly every day since we moved in. It reminds you about the transcience of life.

Sophie decided to be particularly vocal all night, wanting to go in or out every few minutes. We were accommodating just to shut her up - we didn't want the new neighbours to be disturbed on their first night. I really hope they are cat people.