Tulips

Our cutie black moodle has just turned four years old.

My gorgeous proofreader, Anastasia, is twenty three today... happy birthday!

L & PL Volume 2 is in the production phase. The most stressful, I think.

I bought some interesting herbal tea on the weekend that should improve all sorts of parts of me that really could use some improving.

Also on the weekend we took a stroll through Floriade in the nation's capital; so uplifting... so many beautiful tulips, one of my two most favourite flowers! I can never decide on a favourite colour and Floriade has every shade and variety of tulip imaginable. The pointy petal iconic variety; ones with ruffles; colour variegated with white; yellow, of course, every shade of pink, and red!! Also wine, crimson, orange (gorgeous)... impossible to name them all.

The peony is my other most favourite flower. Old fashioned white roses come in next.

So, now I'm sipping my favourite coffee and planning updates and additions to my website for when Volume 2 is published. Nice, though, to take a moment to dwell on those exquisite tulips.

Back to work!

Catch-up

Sunday morning. It's lovely and quiet. Morning is my best time to write. My brain is clear. So those first few hours of the day are crucial to those words on the white page. When I'm in the groove, though, often the time of day isn't so important. But when I need a better word, the right words, or I'm in a tricky patch, I can always say I'll deal with that in the morning, and on the whole the morning won't let me down.
Currently, I have two very helpful assistants reading my manuscript, finding typos and generally giving some feedback. Reader number 1, the young lady who is a prolific reader of fiction, is loving the story, the character development and the romance; reader number 2, the gentleman who predominantly reads non-fiction, is exited about the pace and the action, the tone and the feel, the new characters, and reading more about his favourite character from HEARTLAND, Jennifer. So far so good. So for those readers who are looking forward to Volume 2 of the Legends I hope you will be pleased.

It's interesting writing a second novel (and a sequel to boot). There are readers who love HEARTLAND and it's kind of nerve-wracking hoping that the new novel will not disappoint. My assistants say emphatically that I don't need to be worried. So it's full steam ahead!

Now that the novel is at this stage I have forced myself to take a step back from it for a few days to do other important work on the project. This also leaves me time to write a blog. I find writing a novel incredibly consuming. All parts of the brain that deal with writing words go to it and not much else, except for the shopping list.
So now that it's a lovely Sunday morning, everyone else is asleep, the sun is shining through my windows, Volume 2 is in a good place, I can write this. I don't think I've said all that much but it's always good to catch up with people, especially the ones you appreciate for their support and interest. Readers!

Jindabyne

We were fortunate to spend this past weekend in Jindabyne in the heart of the Snowy Mountains. At this time of the year there is a sense of waiting... in just another few weeks the official snow season begins. In the meantime the area is so delightfully uncrowded, the weather so bracingly crisp and the scenery so picturesque you can't help but love it. The town's stunning centrepiece, Lake Jindabyne, goes from misty-broody grey in the early morning to spanking-bright blue by the afternoon. The residual gold leaves on the trees love to show off against the blue backdrop! When the sun finally burns off the mist, this historic town of outdated chalets really sparkles.

What we love about weekends such as this is discovery. There is always somewhere you feel sure you must have been and then realise you haven't. For us it was Guthega Village. We drove up the Kosciuszko Rd and turned off onto Guthega Rd. The Main Range begins to make its presence felt, with huge moutainsides of bowed snow gums like great waves about to wash over you (my husband described it as such and I have permission to use it) and Alpine pastures you can't wait to hike. The nicest part was that we met Nick Kennedy up there in his cosy Guthega Alpine Inn overlooking Guthega Dam and sipped good coffee and chatted to Nick, while the great peaks of Mt Kosciuszko and Mt Twynam, a little spotty with snow, beckoned to us across the way from out the window. Now this is charm at its most irresistable. We are so going back.

Back in Jindabyne, where it was two degrees and frost covered the ground and the rooftops, we needed a hearty breakfast and coffee. We found Jo and Andrew at Burger It. They are so friendly and welcoming. And Andrew cooks up great bacon and eggs with a side of buttered mushies, grilled tomato and sausages. When his little daughters skipped into the shop saying, 'Hello, Daddy!' I was kind of sold right then even without the fresh free range eggs and bacon. Being the daughter of a shopkeeper myself I kind of related. Jo and Andrew run a family business. So if you rock up to Lakeview Plaza, Snowy River Avenue on a cold morning looking for something to get you fuelled up for the day, they will look after you for sure. A visit to Jindabyne now wouldn't the same without brekkie at Jo and Andrew's place.

Now that I've waxed lyrical about our weekend in Jindabye, it's back to Liberty & Property volume two. I'm all charged up and ready to write!